Film On West Memphis Three Draws Protests

The parents of a child killed in the so-called West Memphis Three case, which has been documented by filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky in their PARADISE LOST documentary film series, have asked the Academy Of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences to refuse consideration for the latest film in the series, PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY. Todd and Dana Moore, whose 8 year old son Michael was found murdered with two other boys in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993, stated the film celebrated the three defendants in the case, who have since won their freedom due to a recanting of testimony by several key witnesses in a trial that was full of questionable judgments and procedures. The defendants, who came to be known as the West Memphis Three, have been a fixture on the international film festival circuit as the film has been making the rounds at such prestigious events as the Toronto Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY has been placed on the “short list” of possible Best Documentary Oscar nominees.

FFT Webmaster

The FFT Webmaster use displays whenever an article has multiple authors. It also pops up on articles from old versions of Film Festival Today. The original author byline might be missing! In that case, if you are the author of such an article and see this bio instead of your own, please send us an email. Some of our contributors that might be missing bylines are: Brad Balfour, Laura Blum, and Sandy Mandelberger, among others.