This documentary examines the workings of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), established after the end of apartheid for wrongdoers to confess their transgressions to the families of their victims. It follows several cases that the group has monitored, including those of a white police officer who meets the families of the Craddock Four, black activists who died at his hands, and the parents of a white American exchange student who encounter the black man who killed their daughter. Long Night's Journey Into Day was directed by Frances Reid, who earned an Oscar nomination for her short subject Straight From the Heart, and Deborah Hoffman, an Oscar nominee for Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter.