An important documentary was made about the West Memphis Three called Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, detailing what was then the allegedly-wrongful conviction of three young men who liked a style of clothes and music that convinced their community they were capable of obscene acts of ritualistic murder committed against three young boys. It can be argued that this documentary and its follow-up helped to get them freed by bringing needed attention, supporters, and funds to their defense.
Now that the WM3 have been belatedly released from jail, if not completely exonerated—see our post linked below the trailer for more details on that travesty of technicalities—their story has been made into another documentary by no less than filmmakers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, who also helped fund the cause of earning freedom for these wrongly convicted men. One of the WM3, Damien Echols, is also credited as a producer.
Per Deadline, West of Memphis, directed by Amy Berg, will air at the Sundance film festival next week in a with an eye towards getting theatrical distribution. It looks wonderfully made, if the story remains as universally tragic as ever.
Blogger Jake Hinkson was actually living in Arkansas in 1993, and shared here his personal, unsettled feelings about the West Memphis Three, both at their arrest and after their release eighteen years later. Click to read more background and links to other information about the case.
Poster image and screening times via wearemoviegeeks