SFIFF: Presumed Guilty

~ Lincoln Spector

A- Presumed Guilty

In Mexico, the accused are guilty until proven innocent, and the courts really aren’t interested in who’s innocent. That José Antonio Zúñiga was arrested and convicted of murder with bad evidence against him and ignored evidence in his favor is hardlypresumedinnocent unique. What was unique is that lawyers-turned-documentary-filmmakers Roberto Hernández and Layda Negrete picked up his case, found enough errors to demand a retrial, then videotaped the retrial. A near exceptional piece of work.

You have two more chances to see Presumed Guilty at the festival. It will play tomorrow (Monday) at the Pacific Film Archive at 6:30, and Thursday, at the Kabuki, at 3:15. It will get a commercial release in Mexico (and maybe here). A shorter version will screen on PBS in July.

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Published by Lincoln Spector

Lincoln Spector writes about cinema, technology, and cinema technology. From 1986 through 2008, he wrote Gigglebytes, the first technology-oriented humor column. From 1977 through 2016, he wrote PC World's Answer Line column and blog.