Ben Cotner and Ryan White's documentary, shot over the course of five years, takes us behind the scenes, and into the world of the legal team that sought to overturn California's same-sex marriage ban through an appeal to the Supreme Court. This team was led by unlikely allies: former opponents David Boies and Ted Olsen, who had argued against each other in the Florida vote recount case that gave George W. Bush the presidency in 2000.  They became friends during that time, and they subsequently teamed up on behalf of two couples, Jeff Zarrillo and Paul Katami, and Sandy Stier and Kris Perry, whose right to marry is at the heart of the case and the film.

This isn't a courtroom drama, despite the amount of time devoted to preparing and presenting a legal argument  – its tone is not adversarial, and it does not attempt to explore the positions or motives of those who supported Proposition 8, an amendment that declared that only marriage between a man and a woman could be valid or recognised in California law. .

It is, as the title tells us, a film that focuses on the other side, and the people it involves. The Case Against 8 documents, quietly and without histrionics, a long-drawn-out process of advocacy; it presents not only the legal conduct of the case, but also the daily lives of those most intimately affected by it, two couples who are prepared to  allow their private lives to be scrutinised in public in pursuit of civil rights. And it's a salutary reminder that Australia still has a long way to go in this area.