Ava DuVernay's '13th' may be the most important film of this year

It's still early in awards season -- there are always films that come out of nowhere to shock and amaze us, so I am withholding some judgement here -- but, without a doubt Ava DuVernay's acclaimed and blistering new documentary 13th deserves to be in the conversation when it comes to movies that speak to the moment we're currently in.

With the backdrop of the election looming, the film -- which is streaming on Netflix and opening the New York Film Festival (a first for a documentary) -- is a stunning indictment of this country's for-profit prison system, the lack of empathy of many elected officials and the implicit bias of many members of law enforcement.

As I wrote in my review for NBC News, the film also doesn't spare Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the two top contenders for the White House, both of whom played a role -- during the height of crime anxiety in the late 80s and early 90s -- of trafficking in harmful stereotypes about young men of color.

Clinton, at the very least, has taken responsibility for her conduct, apologizing repeatedly for her use of the racially-loaded term "super-predators," but that, of course, does not erase the legacy of her husband's crime bill (which she supported), now credited with exacerbating an already unfair cycle of mass incarceration.

Meanwhile, Trump, is featured in the film fear-mongering about the Central Park Five -- black and brown youths accused of beating and raping a white female jogger in New York City. These young men confessed to the crime after being coerced by the NYPD. Their convictions were later overturned by DNA evidence and a confession from the young man who actually committed the crime.

Their story is brilliantly told in a book by Sarah Burns and an accompanying film co-directed by her father, the legendary Ken Burns. Trump just this week has refused to acknowledge their innocence, adding further insult to the injury that they have endured for over two decades.

Ava DuVernay

But at the end of the day, 13th isn't about any one candidate, election or party, although it does hold elected officials across the board to account. It is both a historically rich and undeniably infuriating look at how this country has rigged modern-day slavery into the system cynically, while doing away with the "peculiar institution" that at least half this country knew and loved.

It also heralds DuVernay as one of the most vital filmmakers working today. After the success of Selma, I am sure she had her pick of projects both prestige and commercial -- and she chose to make a nonfiction film about a decidedly unsexy subject.

Sure, lots of politicians have been out there calling for criminal justice reform -- but as DuVernay's film points out -- there is even a profit motive for that.

It makes a pragmatic point about the fact that this country's desire to maintain a racialized social order never dies, it just metastasizes -- and it will require constant activism and resilience to beat back the forces of oppression.

It's a film that -- regardless of your political persuasion -- needs to be seen, and hopefully, it can force a real discussion of this issue. We need more than reform, we need a revolution.