True Conviction

(Jamie Meltzer, 2017, USA, DCP, 84 min.)
In Person: filmmaker Jamie Melzter and activist Christopher Scott

Praised by Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, the founders and directors of the Innocence Project, Jamie Meltzer’s award-winning documentary explores the U.S. criminal justice system from a unique perspective. Christopher Scott, Johnnie Lindsey, and Steven Phillips had collectively spent 60 years in prison before being exonerated. After their releases, the trio formed a Dallas, Texas-based detective agency, focused on assisting others they believe to be wrongfully convicted of crimes. Meltzer chronicles the endless, mundane tasks necessary to unearth new leads; the wrenching, maybe-true-maybe-not stories of prisoners looking for help; and some unexpected moments of drama, as the three men, led by Scott, work to free others who were caught up in a system that too-often settles for resolution rather than justice.  A “surprising and profound experience”—Meredith Alloway, Filmmaker Magazine [Add to Calendar]

Presented as part of the Block Cinema series Watching the Detectives