news

Report from Sundance 2006: The Trials of Darryl Hunt and the Legacy of Criminal Justice Docs

Published on February 27, 2006

In the January 19th edition of The New York Times critic Mahnola Dargis observed that every year The Sundance Film Festival includes a documentary that is a variation on the same film. She then proceeded to discuss The Trials of Darryl Hunt as this year's "tear-jerker," a spot that she suggests was held by After Innocence the year before. Dargis characterizes these films as well-intended and formally bland -- the kind of feel-good-about feeling bad movies that solicit audience indignation.

The Sundance Film Festival has a legacy of featuring criminal justice documentaries.

I must admit my bias here. I was Associate Producer and Outreach Director for another one of these criminal justice documentaries that played at Sundance in 2004, Deadline. While working on Deadline and its outreach campaign, I was constantly met with people who were skeptical about the importance of these films and who would dismiss documentaries that criticized the criminal justice system as anti-death penalty and missable. Many of these people could not even tell one film from another. They saw Dead Man Walking as the same as The Farm as the same as The Thin Blue Line and so on. In fact, much of the work I did when I traveled with Deadline was to help people understand the differences between these films and their potential impacts. Understanding why a work about a wrongfully convicted man is different than one about conditions in prison is understanding, in a real way, what is happening in our criminal justice system.

Sundance has a history of bringing documentaries into the spotlight. Robert Redford in a speech he gave opening night in Park City, said he was most proud of this legacy. He feels that Sundance has played a major role in the boom of documentaries in recent years. Indeed, Sundance has featured many criminal justice docs, from Brother's Keeper to The Farm and many others. The profiles of these films changed significanctly once they were in the festival and many have had successful, high-impact outreach campaigns.

Many of these documentaries discuss the flaws that exist within the criminal justice system and bring to light the injustices that average citizens do not see. Most importantly, these films help the general public to understand the complexity of these issues and the bureaucracy that exists to keep people in the dark. After Innocence focuses on life after exoneration and the struggles of seven men who try to rebulid their lives after the system has done them wrong. The Farm tells the story of one prison in Louisiana, and Deadline tells the story of Governor George Ryan's examination of Illinois' flawed capital punishment system.

As for the educational potential of these films, Steve Bright, Director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, and one of the hardest working lawyers in the US, put it best: "The criminal courts deal almost exclusively with poor people and most people are completely unaware of how poorly it functions, the racial discrimination, and how it has become a dumping ground for the mentally ill, homeless people, etc. People also have no idea how harsh and degrading the system is, or the huge volume of people who are processed through it. The legislatures and federal courts are largely indifferent to the lack of fairness in the criminal courts and the excessive sentences that are being imposed, so documentaries are the best hope for change with regard to criminal justice policy."

The Trials of Darryl Hunt tells the story of a wrongful conviction over three decades.

Katie Brown, one of the producers of The Trials of Darryl Hunt, which premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival, feels honored by the legacy of these criminal justice films. "These issues are something everybody needs to take seriously. These films are so dynamically different from each other. I think it's great to keep building on the legacies of these films. It has branches and branches. The depth is so huge."

The Trials of Darryl Hunt documents the aftermath of the brutal rape/murder of Deborah Sykes, a young white newspaper reporter, and the subsequent conviction of Darryl Hunt, one of the most shocking wrongful convictions in US History. After being convicted on circumstancial evidence, Darryl sat on Death Row for twenty years. Filmmakers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg painstakingly frame the judicial and emotional responses to this chilling crime and the implications surrounding Hunt's conviction against a backdrop of class and racial bias in America.

Sundance was the film's world premiere. The filmmakers had already secured HBO as their broadcaster and they came to the festival to find DVD and theatrical distribution. But being at Sundance also generated an invaluable sense of validation. As Brown explains, "The festival solidifies the potential of this film to reach a different audience." Darryl Hunt was there with his wife April and the lawyer that fought for decades to try to save him, Mark Rabil. Since this was the world premiere, the filmmakers had not had the opportunity to see the film with an audience before and the response was overwhelming.

After Innocence was in last year's Sundance Film Festival and focuses on what happens to individuals after they have been exonerated.

Trials tells the story of a single case over several decades. It also captures the strength and conviction that it takes to remain hopeful and positive when the entire world is seemingly against you. Darryl's story touches people personally and having met him at the screening, I can say that this special quality he posses touched me as well. His presence at screenings will be a crucial element of their outreach campaign. Brown does not see Trials as just an anti-death penalty film. "The film looks at a flawed justice system. It is such a human film and so people can relate to it on every level. You can oddly enough relate to Darryl. This isn't just one person. Darryl is not an isolated incident."

The producers have planned a multi-tiered outreach campaign that they will be directly overseeing. They are in the first phase, which consists of screenings at festivals with national outreach partners and Darryl present. They are solidifying their full list of partners, but so far they are are working with The Innocence Project, Open Society Institute and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Their main goal is to bring attention to Darryl's foundation, The Darryl Hunt Project for Freedom and Justice. The foundation works with wrongfully incarcerated individuals to get their lives back on track, and it helps ex-offenders obtain the skills, guidance and support they need to adapt to life outside the prison system. Brown hopes to "get people to talk about Darryl. What is he experiencing now? The film really is a forum for him to talk about this foundation and his experiences."

Brown sees this first phase of outreach as crucial in generating interest in the film and furthering its overall impact. "The goal of having these screenings before our 2007 broadcast is to create attention around the film. The sneak preview factor is helpful is getting us in the door. Once people have heard about the film, they might tune in in 2007 and most importantly, they will know that the film is a tool that is out there to be used."

Darryl Hunt and his lawyer Mark Rabil attended the Sundance screening and will be at many events during the film's outreach campaign.

Currently Brown is fielding requests to show the film all over the country. If someone is interested in using the film, she works with them to coordinate a screening that fits into the filmmakers' travel schedule. For example, they might have Darryl speak at a high-school while they are in the same town for a festival. They will try to do as many events like these as possible leading up to the HBO broadcast.

Sundance's legacy of featuring criminal justice docs like The Trials of Darryl Hunt ties into the festival's broader commitment to celebrating media for social change. By being associated with films like this year's star-studded Friends with Money or Little Miss Sunshine brings a cache to Trials that it might not have otherwise had.

Upcoming screenings include:

March 2, 7pm, Baltimore, MD:
Panel and Screening with Darryl Hunt, Mark Rabil & filmmakers
At the Megaphone Project for Views of Justice

March 17-19, Seattle, WA:
Panel and Screening with Darryl Hunt, Mark Rabil & filmmakers
At the Innocence Network Conference

April 6-9, Raleigh, NC
Panel, screenings, and a benefit for the The Darryl Hunt Project for Freedom and Justice
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival