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Ilie Mitaru To Direct “Act of Service” Documentary on Equine Therapy for Incarcerated Veterans, Alex Lieberman Produces
The Apex Times

THE APEX TIMES

Culture/The Apex Times/Jul 17, 1:09 PM EDT

Ilie Mitaru To Direct “Act of Service” Documentary on Equine Therapy for Incarcerated Veterans, Alex Lieberman Produces

Deadline reports that Ilie Mitaru will direct a new documentary, Act of Service, centered on a rehabilitation program inside a Texas jail that pairs horse training and equine therapy with services for incarcerated veterans. Alex Lieberman will produce.

2 min readEditor-approved Apex article

A new documentary centered on equine therapy and horse training for incarcerated veterans is in development, with Ilie Mitaru set to direct and Alex Lieberman producing, Deadline reported on July 17.

The film, titled Act of Service, focuses on a rehabilitation program inside a Texas jail that uses equine therapy and structured horse work as part of an effort to support incarcerated veterans, according to the report.

Deadline said the documentary is based on Mitaru’s award-winning BBC reporting about the program, positioning the project as an expansion of his earlier journalism into a longer-form film treatment. The report identifies the BBC work as the foundation for the documentary approach.

Mitaru is described by Deadline as the director of the project, bringing his experience with the underlying program from the reporting phase to the documentary feature. The publication also characterizes the BBC reporting as award-winning, though it did not specify the award name in the published summary.

Lieberman is attached as producer, and Deadline described him as a Peabody Award-winner. The report frames Lieberman’s involvement as part of the documentary’s production team and does not add additional production-company details in its summary.

Deadline’s announcement came as part of the outlet’s exclusive coverage, and the reporting does not provide a release date, distribution partner, or filming timeline in the information provided. It also does not specify whether the program’s participants will be shown on camera or how the jail environment will be handled within filming and consent requirements.

As the project moves from announcement toward production, the documentary’s central focus will likely be on how equine therapy is used in an institutional setting and what the program is intended to address for incarcerated veterans, including rehabilitation and reintegration support, as reflected in the documentary’s stated premise.

For now, the publicly available details remain limited to the project title, creative leadership, and the basic description of the Texas-jail program and its origins in Mitaru’s BBC reporting, with additional production and release information expected to follow.

Why It Matters

  • The documentary ties a health-and-rehabilitation approach, equine therapy, to an incarceration setting, bringing attention to how such programs operate within correctional institutions.
  • The project’s creative leadership and journalistic origins may shape how the film frames the program, given it is based on earlier BBC reporting rather than an entirely new narrative.
  • Because Deadline did not specify distribution or scheduling, audience access to the film and any broader public impact depends on future production and release decisions.
  • The involvement of a Peabody Award-winner as producer indicates that the project may pursue a serious documentary presentation aimed at broader public audiences interested in rehabilitation and veterans’ issues.

Sources

Key Facts

  • Deadline reported on July 17, 2026 that Ilie Mitaru will direct the documentary Act of Service.
  • The documentary is centered on a rehabilitation program inside a Texas jail that uses equine therapy and horse training for incarcerated veterans.
  • Deadline said Act of Service is based on Ilie Mitaru’s award-winning BBC reporting about the program.
  • Alex Lieberman is producing the film, and Deadline described him as a Peabody Award-winner.
  • Deadline did not provide a release date, distribution platform, or filming timeline in the details included in its published summary.