Terry Sanders Completes Documentary on Rescuing Democracy and the Rule of Law
Filmmaker Terry Sanders has finished a new documentary, On Rescuing Democracy and the Rule of Law. Deadline reported the completion on 30 October 2026.
The film runs 33 minutes and is built in three parts. It looks at the challenges and threats facing established democracies, the United States among them.
Its central story is about the Central and East European Law Initiative, known as CEELI. The initiative was set up after the fall of the Berlin Wall to help former Soviet Bloc countries build their legal systems. It was a pro bono project, meaning lawyers gave their time for free. More than 5,000 American lawyers, judges and legal experts became involved.
Their work was practical and wide-ranging. It included helping to rewrite constitutions, reform court systems and adopt the rule of law, the principle that laws apply to everyone, governments included.
The film includes interviews with Homer Moyer, co-founder of CEELI; Mark Ellis, executive director of the International Bar Association; Betsy Andersen, former executive director of the World Justice Project; Sandra Day O'Connor; and Corey Brettschneider.
Sanders writes and directs the film. He is co-head of the American Film Foundation, a non-profit production company, which produced it. He is a two-time Oscar winner. He produced the short A Time Out of War, and he co-produced Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
The project was first announced in July 2024. Realscreen reported at the time that Sanders and the American Film Foundation had started production on a feature documentary called Rescuing Democracy. The film was shot in Washington D.C., London and Prague.
The finished film will also be seen on campus. UCLA's Safeguarding Democracy Project will host a screening of the documentary, followed by a question-and-answer session, according to a UCLA newsroom notice published on 22 October 2026.
For most viewers, the documentary's subject is a chance to look back at a long, unglamorous effort. It is a story about people who spent years helping other countries write their laws. The film now moves from the edit suite to audiences.
