West of Memphis
A contender for one of my favourite documentaries ever. I hold this case particularly close to heart as I've followed it now for well over a decade and a half - in fact it was one thing I was particularly taken with when my OH and I first got together, so much so I'd bought the books, downloaded all the court materials and was an ardent supporter of The West Memphis Three. I even attended an anti-death penalty charity gig and talked to Steve Earle backstage about the three (he was a supporter, along with Eddie Vedder, Henry Rollins, Patti Smith, Johnny Depp and many more.)
For those that don't know, the WM3 were convicted as teenagers in 1993 of the murder of three young boys, in what was assumed to be a satanic cult ritual. Despite astounding incompetence from the investigating officers, contradictory evidence and the boys maintaining their innocence (except one with learning difficulties who was coerced into giving a false confession) the courts and media effectively condemned these kids in one of the biggest media witch hunts of all time, leading to life imprisonment for two of the boys and time on death row for the so called ring leader, Damien Echols. 18 years later, with new DNA evidence surfaced and ropey convictions proved false, the men are finally free, although shockingly still not cleared by the courts.
This superb documentary, produced by Peter Jackson's Wingnut films (Jackson is featured, and was also a supporter), tells their story brilliantly and I found it quite emotional. A true cautionary tale about an extraordinary miscarriage of justice - just brilliant.
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