West Memphis Three To Attend NYFF Screening of PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY
Hey documentary fans attending this year's New York Film Festival: Paradise Lost director Joe Berlinger will be attending the screening of the second sequel to his 1996 documentary with the subjects of the doc in attendance--and it features the premiere of a new ending based on a major twist in the case from this year. It all goes down this Monday, October 10 at 6:00 PM.
The "West Memphis Three," Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr., were accused of the gruesome murders of two young boys in the quiet community of Robin Hood Hills in Arkansas. This is one of those cases where celebrity agitation for a cause actually means something as 18 years after being convicted for the crimes based on wildly circumstantial evidence and a possibly coerced confession from a mentally-challenged young man, Baldwin, Echols, and Misskelley were freed back in August.
Here's the blurb about the appearance from the fest:
he first-ever premiere screening of the film with a new ending includes footage from the events surrounding the recent celebrated release of the trio. The third film in a trilogy by Emmy-winning documentarians Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY features never-before seen footage of the epic chronicle of the "West Memphis Three," Arkansas teens convicted of the 1993 murders of three eight-year-old boys. The film quickly catches you up on this lightning-rod case, initially tried without a shred of physical evidence and amidst hysterical claims of satanic cultism. We then flash forward to the present, where the accused await their final appeal and staggering new revelations further point to a gross miscarriage of justice. A remarkable journey filmed over 18 years, the film follows an American tragedy, and capped by an extraordinary reversal of fortune. The film is also a profound meditation on the passage of time, interrupted, and salvation too long in coming. PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY is an HBO Documentary Films production set to premiere on the network in 2012.
