INDEPENDENTS NIGHT PRESENTS No Tomorrow Thursday, June 17: 6:30pm
A suspenseful, ripped-from-the-headlines look into a murder trial, No Tomorrow grapples with thorny questions about our justice system and the sometimes intimate relationship between documentary filmmakers and their subjects. Join us after the screening for a spirited discussion with the filmmakers and two experts at opposite sides of the death penalty debate:
Barry Scheck, co-founder/co-director of the Innocence Project, and Robert Blecker, New York Law School Professor.
In September 2007 Juan Jose Chavez went on trial for murder in Los Angeles Superior Court for three homicides: two gang killings and then Risa Bejarano, a potential witness.
Risa was the principal subject of filmmakers Roger Weisberg and Vanessa Roth’s 2005 documentary, Aging Out, about teenagers leaving foster care. Now, astonishingly, the film was being used by the prosecution to heighten sympathy for the victim—in pursuit of the death penalty. No Tomorrow provides a suspenseful inside look at the trial and makes us question the administration of the death penalty in all its flaws.
No Tomorrow
Roger Weisberg & Vanessa Roth, 2009, USA; 80m
With special guest appearances by: Barry Scheck, a renowned lawyer who has represented many death row inmates who have been exonerated. He was also part of the O.J. Simpson defense team. He is the co-founder/co-director of the Innocence Project and Cardozo Law School Professor. Robert Blecker, one of the most articulate pro-death penalty spokespersons in the country. He is a New York Law School Professor.
Co-presented with the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival.
Independents Night showcases New York premieres of American documentaries every other month at the Walter Reade Theater, making it one of the city’s foremost venues for non-fiction work. With the filmmakers in attendance, these provocative evenings of discovery and exploration include a Q&A and reception following the film. Independents Night is programmed by Marian Masone.
