[act-ma] 5/14 Death penalty film series (part 2 of 5)

[Scott Langley]

Wednesday, May 14 is the second film in the Lucy Parson Center's
5 part Death Penalty Film Series

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
THIS WEEK:  Step by Step: A Journey of Hope (2007)   ***Boston premiere!***
A Film By Micki Dickoff, in attendance from Los Angeles
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Free movie, snacks, food, beer, and wine provided. All films will be shown
at 7:00 pm at the Lucy Parsons bookstore, 549 Columbus Ave, South End,
Boston, 02118.  (617) 267-6272
For MBTA and driving directions: http://www.lucyparsons.org/directions.php.
(note that parking is not easy to come by on the streets)

Sponsored by the Lucy Parsons Center, Amnesty International (Northeast
Regional Office and Local Group 133 of Somerville), Mass. Citizens Against
the Death Penalty Fund, and Murder Victims¹ Families for Human Rights.

For more info, contact Scott Langley: scott at langleycreations.com or
617-262-4262

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

DESCRIPTIONS OF THIS WEEK¹S FILM AND OTHER UPCOMING SCREENINGS:


=======================================
Wednesday, May 14th at 7:00 pm
=======================================

Step by Step: A Journey of Hope (2007)
***Boston premiere!***
A Film By Micki Dickoff, in attendance from Los Angeles
1 hour 22 minutes


³If your child was murdered, you¹d want the killer executed,² is the
argument made by death penalty supporters calculated to stop the debate in
its tracks. Step by Step takes viewers on an emotional journey of hope with
murder victims¹ family members on their 17 day march through the state of
Texas trying to change hearts and minds with messages of forgiveness,
reconciliation and appropriate alternatives to the death penalty. Their
viewpoint, formed out of personal grief and loss, is difficult to dismiss
even by the most ardent advocates of execution.

Members of the Journey tell their heart wrenching stories at each stop along
the way, in the streets and at rallies, in churches and schools, at vigils
and protests outside the death chamber, and in debates with death penalty
supporters. The voices of Journey participants compel listeners to reexamine
their views about the death penalty at a gut level, faced by people who have
suffered the unimaginable and yet believe that killing and vengeance are
never the answer. This feature-length documentary provides a provocative
look into the heart of the death penalty debate, featuring the stories of
many affected by violent crime and the punishment of death.

Step by Step: A Journey of Hope takes the death penalty debate to another
level, giving us all a different way to look at justice and punishment,
forgiveness and retribution and the value of life over death in our search
for ways to end the cycle of violence. The film was selected for screening
at the Non Violence International Film Festival in Canada and at the Global
Peace Film Festival in Orlando.
www.journeyofhope.org/pages/micki_dickoff.htm

In attendance will be director Micki Dickoff, who has dedicated her life and
her art - to helping others. Her films on AIDS were among the very first to
address that epidemic.  Since proving that her friend had been wrongfully
convicted of a crime she absolutely did not commit and thus freeing her from
prison, Micki has been a tireless advocate for ending the death penalty and
freeing others who have been wrongfully convicted.  Her production company,
Pro Bono Productions, is located in Los Angeles.

=======================================
Wednesday, May 21st at 7:00 pm
=======================================

At the Death House Door (2008)
Directed by Peter Gilbert and Steve James
1 hour and 34 minutes

***This Lucy Parson¹s Center screening was specially selected for a preview
before the Independent Film Channel¹s world television premiere on May
29!***

A personal and intimate look at the death penalty in the state of Texas
through the eyes of Pastor Carroll Pickett, who served 15 years as the death
house chaplain to the infamous "Walls" prison unit in Huntsville. During
Pickett's remarkable career journey, he presided over 95 executions,
including the world¹s first lethal injection. After each execution, Pickett
recorded an audiotape account of his trip to the death chamber.

The film is also an investigation of the wrongful death of Carlos DeLuna,
who was executed in Texas on December 7, 1989, after prosecutors ignored
evidence inculpating a man, who bragged to friends about committing the
crimes of which DeLuna was convicted.  Carlos De Luna was a convict Pickett
counseled and whose execution troubled Pickett more than any other. He
firmly believed De Luna was innocent, and the film tracks the investigative
efforts of a team of Chicago Tribune reporters who have turned up evidence
that strongly suggests he was.

>From award-winning directors Steve James ("Hoop Dreams") and Peter Gilbert
("Vietnam: Long Time Coming").



=======================================
Wednesday, May 28th at 7:00 pm
=======================================

Thanatos Rx: the Death Penalty Debate in America (2001)
Produced and Directed by Maryanne Galvin, in attendance
59 minutes

Thanatos Rx presents an even-handed, nonpartisan examination of the many
facets of the death penalty debate in America. Thanatos Rx journeys beyond
myopic sound bites and static polls to a deeply personal exploration of the
debate.

Interspersed with powerful and rare archival footage and original
photographs are exclusive interviews with those most touched by Capital
Punishment. Innocence, deterrence, retribution and closure for families of
homicide victims are some of the topics examined through the eyes of a
"volunteer" on Federal Death Row and a murderer who narrowly escaped the
electric chair in Massachusetts.

Interviews with families of murder victims, District Attorneys and legal
scholars at prestigious law schools, The Innocence Project and Amnesty
International illustrate the emotional complexities of the issue.

In attendance will be producer and director Maryanne Galvin, an independent
filmmaker, who holds both an MFA from Emerson College, Boston and a
doctorate in psychology from UMASS/ Amherst.



=======================================
Wednesday, June 4 at 7:00 pm
=======================================

Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (2004)
1 hour and 33 minutes

Redemption tells the story of Stan "Tookie" Williams, founder of the Crips
L.A. street gang. Story follows his fall into gangbanging, his prison term,
and his work writing children's novels encouraging peace and anti-violence
resolutions, which earned him multiple Nobel Peace Prize nominations. After
exhausting all forms of appeal, Tookie was executed by lethal injection at
San Quentin State Prison, California; he was declared dead on December 13,
2005 at 12:35 a.m. PST (08:35 UTC). Williams is the 12th person to be
executed by California since it reinstated the death penalty in 1977.




-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://act-ma.org/pipermail/act-ma_act-ma.org/attachments/20080512/a91bf371/attachment.html>