Abacus earns rave reviews ahead of its theatrical premiere at IFC Center in NYC

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, the latest release by director Steve James, has garnered wide acclaim in anticipation of its theatrical premiere tomorrow, May 19 at the IFC Center in New York City.

Director Steve James and the Sung family will be present all opening weekend, participating in Q&A's post-screenings. Full opening weekend schedule:

Purchase tickets HERE.

Find a full list of Abacus screenings happening nationwide HERE.

Praise for Abacus: Small Enough to Jail

"A stunning David-and-Goliath epic." – Film Journal International

"James spins a fascinating and complex web involving lies, fraud, a months-long trial with a hung jury, and cultural biases against Abacus and the immigrant Chinese community it serves." - Village Voice

"Some of the most striking scenes in "Abacus" are unrelated to the trial itself. They just show the Sungs sitting around a kitchen table or a table in a Chinese restaurant, talking about money, the law, the movies and each other. They talk over each other, interrupt each other, talk over each other. They crack jokes, tease, apologize and compliment one another. The physical fact of their existence onscreen is inspiring. So is the film's impressive array of archival images, documentary film snippets and bits of TV news reports, showing Chinatown through the ages. There is history here. An entire world. And we finally get to see it. What happened to the Sungs seems horribly unfair, but this film is a silver lining. Everyone needs to see it." - RogerEbert.com

"The craft on display in Steve James’s new film Abacus: Small Enough to Jail is so sturdy and comforting that the experience of watching it almost feels like a hug... I have a hunch the people in Abacus will be rattling around in my skull for a long while." - Reverse Shot.

"Abacus: Small Enough to Jail has rightly been called a highly dramatic David versus Goliath tale. But it is much more than that. It is another exploration of the dysfunctional state of the American justice system with its inability to deal with rampant white collar crime and the many important ethical issues surrounding our financial institutions." – Spirituality and Practice

"Steve James may be incapable of directing a bad documentary...With Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, James continues his record as one of America's most reliable non-fiction filmmakers." – Flixist

"The film works at once as a compelling, tangled legal story, a depiction of Chinatown's world within a world, and a portrait of those who live there and shape it as they try to bridge the gap between one world and the other, even if that task sometimes comes with as many risks as rewards." – Uproxx

To stay up to date on all things Abacus and find out when it's screening near you, you can follow the film on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

  • Friday, May 19 - 6:20PM: Showing followed by Q&A with James and the Sung family, moderated by Heidi Ewing
  • Friday, May 19 - 8:25PM: Introduction by James and the Sung family
  • Saturday, May 20 - 6:20PM: Showing followed by Q&A with James and the Sung family, moderated by Morgan Spurlock
  • Saturday, May 20 - 8:25PM: Showing followed by Q&A with James and the Sung family, moderated by Ursula Liang
  • Sunday, May 21 - 4:15PM: Showing followed by Q&A with the Sung family, moderated by Ti-Hua Chang
Julia Martin