FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 27, 2009
Press Contact:
Gwen Essegian or Mark Ligon
(831) 426-2007
PBS to Air Documentary Featuring Wrongly Convicted Local Resident
on November 5th
SAN JOSE – PBS affiliate KTEH will broadcast the television premiere of the locally produced documentary $100 a Day on Thursday, November 5th. The film tells the story of East Palo Alto resident Rick Walker's wrongful conviction and imprisonment, political partisanship in Sacramento, and the difficulty of righting the wrongs in our justice system.
On December 10, 1991, Walker was sentenced to 26 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Linked to the crime by false testimony and questionable legal tactics, Walker would spend the next 12 years in some of California's most dangerous prisons. Once exonerated, he faced yet another barrier to justice: the California State Legislature.
Entitled to one hundred dollars for every day he spent wrongly imprisoned, Walker's attempts to receive his just due became caught in the partisan battle over the 2003 state budget. In the early morning hours on the last night of that year's Legislative session, State Senator Joe Simitian (then a State Assemblyman) challenged his colleagues to put aside their political differences and, "show 35 million Californians that we have the right stuff."
$100 a Day was produced by Santa Cruz-based filmmakers Gwen Essegian and Mark Ligon under the auspices of the Midpeninsula Community Media Center. The film was awarded "Best Documentary Short" at the 2009 Sacramento Film & Music Festival. It was also a 2009 official selection of the Eugene International Film Festival, DocuWest Film Festival, Independents' Film Festival, and the Accolade Film Awards. Local screenings have been sponsored by the Commonwealth Club and the League of Women Voters.
"We were struck by how Rick's story touched on so many things that matter to all of us: the flaws in our justice system, California's partisan political deadlock, and the prospect of hope and change," said Essegian. "It seemed like a natural subject for a film."
WHAT:
Television premiere of the local documentary $100 a Day
WHEN:
Thursday, November 5th at 6:30 p.m.
WHERE:
KTEH (PBS)
Comcast Cable: Channel 10
Broadcast/satellite: KTEH 54
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