Coffee’s Just an Excuse, Cinema’s the Muse!

Hot Coffee

Director: Susan Saladoff
USA; 88’, 2011, color
English with Turkish subtitles

More than 15 years later, the McDonald's coffee case continues to be cited as a prime example of how citizens use "frivolous" lawsuits to take unfair advantage of America's legal system. But is that an accurate portrayal of the facts? First-time filmmaker and former public interest lawyer Susan Saladoff uses the infamous legal battle that began with a spilled cup of coffee to investigate what's behind America's zeal for tort reform - which threatens to restrict the legal rights of everyday citizens and undermine the entire civil justice system - in the thought-provoking documentary Hot Coffee.