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<TITLE>5/14 Death penalty film series (part 2 of 5)</TITLE>
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<FONT SIZE="4"><FONT FACE="Consolas, Courier New, Courier"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:10pt'>Wednesday, May 14 is the second film in the Lucy Parson Center's <BR>
5 part Death Penalty Film Series<BR>
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THIS WEEK: Step by Step: A Journey of Hope (2007) ***Boston premiere!***<BR>
A Film By Micki Dickoff, in attendance from Los Angeles <BR>
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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
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For MBTA and driving directions: <FONT COLOR="#0000FF"><U><a href="http://www.lucyparsons.org/directions.php">http://www.lucyparsons.org/directions.php</a></U></FONT>.<BR>
(note that parking is not easy to come by on the streets)<BR>
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Sponsored by the Lucy Parsons Center, Amnesty International (Northeast<BR>
Regional Office and Local Group 133 of Somerville), Mass. Citizens Against<BR>
the Death Penalty Fund, and Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights.<BR>
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For more info, contact Scott Langley: <FONT COLOR="#0000FF"><U>scott@langleycreations.com</U></FONT> or<BR>
617-262-4262<BR>
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DESCRIPTIONS OF THIS WEEK’S FILM AND OTHER UPCOMING SCREENINGS:<BR>
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Wednesday, May 14th at 7:00 pm<BR>
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Step by Step: A Journey of Hope (2007)<BR>
***Boston premiere!***<BR>
A Film By Micki Dickoff, in attendance from Los Angeles<BR>
1 hour 22 minutes<BR>
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“If your child was murdered, you’d want the killer executed,” is the<BR>
argument made by death penalty supporters calculated to stop the debate in<BR>
its tracks. Step by Step takes viewers on an emotional journey of hope with<BR>
murder victims’ family members on their 17 day march through the state of<BR>
Texas trying to change hearts and minds with messages of forgiveness,<BR>
reconciliation and appropriate alternatives to the death penalty. Their<BR>
viewpoint, formed out of personal grief and loss, is difficult to dismiss<BR>
even by the most ardent advocates of execution.<BR>
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Members of the Journey tell their heart wrenching stories at each stop along<BR>
the way, in the streets and at rallies, in churches and schools, at vigils<BR>
and protests outside the death chamber, and in debates with death penalty<BR>
supporters. The voices of Journey participants compel listeners to reexamine<BR>
their views about the death penalty at a gut level, faced by people who have<BR>
suffered the unimaginable and yet believe that killing and vengeance are<BR>
never the answer. This feature-length documentary provides a provocative<BR>
look into the heart of the death penalty debate, featuring the stories of<BR>
many affected by violent crime and the punishment of death.<BR>
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Step by Step: A Journey of Hope takes the death penalty debate to another<BR>
level, giving us all a different way to look at justice and punishment,<BR>
forgiveness and retribution and the value of life over death in our search<BR>
for ways to end the cycle of violence. The film was selected for screening<BR>
at the Non Violence International Film Festival in Canada and at the Global<BR>
Peace Film Festival in Orlando.<BR>
www.journeyofhope.org/pages/micki_dickoff.htm<BR>
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In attendance will be director Micki Dickoff, who has dedicated her life and<BR>
her art - to helping others. Her films on AIDS were among the very first to<BR>
address that epidemic. Since proving that her friend had been wrongfully<BR>
convicted of a crime she absolutely did not commit and thus freeing her from<BR>
prison, Micki has been a tireless advocate for ending the death penalty and<BR>
freeing others who have been wrongfully convicted. Her production company,<BR>
Pro Bono Productions, is located in Los Angeles.<BR>
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Wednesday, May 21st at 7:00 pm<BR>
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At the Death House Door (2008)<BR>
Directed by Peter Gilbert and Steve James<BR>
1 hour and 34 minutes<BR>
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***This Lucy Parson’s Center screening was specially selected for a preview<BR>
before the Independent Film Channel’s world television premiere on May<BR>
29!***<BR>
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A personal and intimate look at the death penalty in the state of Texas<BR>
through the eyes of Pastor Carroll Pickett, who served 15 years as the death<BR>
house chaplain to the infamous "Walls" prison unit in Huntsville. During<BR>
Pickett's remarkable career journey, he presided over 95 executions,<BR>
including the world’s first lethal injection. After each execution, Pickett<BR>
recorded an audiotape account of his trip to the death chamber.<BR>
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The film is also an investigation of the wrongful death of Carlos DeLuna,<BR>
who was executed in Texas on December 7, 1989, after prosecutors ignored<BR>
evidence inculpating a man, who bragged to friends about committing the<BR>
crimes of which DeLuna was convicted. Carlos De Luna was a convict Pickett<BR>
counseled and whose execution troubled Pickett more than any other. He<BR>
firmly believed De Luna was innocent, and the film tracks the investigative<BR>
efforts of a team of Chicago Tribune reporters who have turned up evidence<BR>
that strongly suggests he was.<BR>
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>From award-winning directors Steve James ("Hoop Dreams") and Peter Gilbert<BR>
("Vietnam: Long Time Coming").<BR>
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Wednesday, May 28th at 7:00 pm<BR>
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Thanatos Rx: the Death Penalty Debate in America (2001)<BR>
Produced and Directed by Maryanne Galvin, in attendance<BR>
59 minutes<BR>
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Thanatos Rx presents an even-handed, nonpartisan examination of the many<BR>
facets of the death penalty debate in America. Thanatos Rx journeys beyond<BR>
myopic sound bites and static polls to a deeply personal exploration of the<BR>
debate.<BR>
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Interspersed with powerful and rare archival footage and original<BR>
photographs are exclusive interviews with those most touched by Capital<BR>
Punishment. Innocence, deterrence, retribution and closure for families of<BR>
homicide victims are some of the topics examined through the eyes of a<BR>
"volunteer" on Federal Death Row and a murderer who narrowly escaped the<BR>
electric chair in Massachusetts.<BR>
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Interviews with families of murder victims, District Attorneys and legal<BR>
scholars at prestigious law schools, The Innocence Project and Amnesty<BR>
International illustrate the emotional complexities of the issue.<BR>
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In attendance will be producer and director Maryanne Galvin, an independent<BR>
filmmaker, who holds both an MFA from Emerson College, Boston and a<BR>
doctorate in psychology from UMASS/ Amherst.<BR>
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Wednesday, June 4 at 7:00 pm<BR>
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Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (2004)<BR>
1 hour and 33 minutes<BR>
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Redemption tells the story of Stan "Tookie" Williams, founder of the Crips<BR>
L.A. street gang. Story follows his fall into gangbanging, his prison term,<BR>
and his work writing children's novels encouraging peace and anti-violence<BR>
resolutions, which earned him multiple Nobel Peace Prize nominations. After<BR>
exhausting all forms of appeal, Tookie was executed by lethal injection at<BR>
San Quentin State Prison, California; he was declared dead on December 13,<BR>
2005 at 12:35 a.m. PST (08:35 UTC). Williams is the 12th person to be<BR>
executed by California since it reinstated the death penalty in 1977.<BR>
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