PRESS RELEASE Contact: Richard Chen
July 1, 2013 Phone: (650) 996-7888
MUMIA—Innocent and Framed!
Bay Area Premiere of Manufacturing Guilt
“MUMIA—Innocent and Framed!” are events on July 5 and July 7 marking the 31st anniversary of Mumia’s conviction and death sentence for a crime he did not commit. They will be the West Coast premiere of the new short film Manufacturing Guilt, coming just days after the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections cut off Mumia's phone calls, following his appeal argument challenging the state's “secret sentencing” of him to life imprisonment.
The international campaign for Mumia Abu-Jamal’s freedom has a powerful and new weapon: Manufacturing Guilt --How Philadelphia’s Police and DA Actively Manufactured Mumia Abu-Jamal’s Guilt and Suppressed his Innocence. Manufacturing Guilt is the new short film (25 minutes) by Stephen Vittoria, who produced and directed the acclaimed feature documentary Mumia—Long Distance Revolutionary. Manufacturing Guilt was produced in association with Prison Radio, and with Rachel Wolkenstein, a long-time attorney for Mumia, as Legal Consultant.
Manufacturing Guilt premieres on the West Coast at two BA events: Oakland: Friday, 5 July at 7 PM, at the East Side Arts Alliance, 2277 International Blvd, (Between 22nd and 23rd Ave.) and San Francisco: Sunday, 7 July at 7 PM, 518 Valencia St., SF (Between 16th & 17th Streets). Speaking at the premiere will be Keith Cook, Mumia's older brother, and Rachel Wolkenstein.
Stephen Vittoria produced Manufacturing Guilt after completing Long Distance Revolutionary: “Based on the actual record of investigations and court filings from 1995 to 2003—evidence denied in the courts and ignored by the press--Manufacturing Guilt cuts through the years of absurdities and overt racism to produce a clear picture of how Abu-Jamal's guilt was manufactured and his innocence suppressed beginning only moments after he and Faulkner were found shot in the early morning hours of December 9th, 1981.
“This historic and courageous film is the perfect companion to Long Distance Revolutionary—a film that is unequivocal in its force regarding Abu-Jamal's innocence. It is truly an eye-opening experience.”
Mumia Abu-Jamal spoke about his case and Manufacturing Guilt: “In a case such as this innocence is irrelevant, and to quote Judge Sabo, ‘Justice is just an emotional feeling.’…Steve’s film shows a system where false confessions are used, where witnesses lie and false evidence gets introduced to get a false conviction before a judge who boasts, “I’m going to help them fry the n-----r.”
Keith Cook, Mumia’s eldest brother, is a featured speaker at the events. As Cook stated: “Manufacturing Guilt highlights truth. Everybody who has a heart for justice, passion for truth, and concern for the innocent should see this film.”
Also speaking is Rachel Wolkenstein, who was co-counsel for Mumia during the post-conviction appeals proceedings from 1995-1999 and in charge of the defense investigation that uncovered much of the evidence of Mumia’s innocence, including the confession of Arnold Beverly that he, not Mumia, shot and killed police officer Faulkner. “This was a political and racist vendetta by the state—concerted action by the Philadelphia police, DA and the U.S. Justice Department to convict Mumia for a crime they knew he did not commit,” Wolkenstein said.
Jack Heyman, ILWU Local 10 (retired), an organizer of the Longshore Workers' West Coast Port Shutdown to Free Mumia (1999), explained: “It is appropriate that Manufacturing Guilt is being shown during “Labor Fest,” which celebrates the 1934 SF General Strike called to protest the police killing of two maritime strikers. This film documents how the police and the racist capitalist courts framed Mumia Abu-Jamal, this country’s most well known political prisoner. It’ll take a fight harnessing the social power of the labor movement, acting independently of the parties of capitalism, to free Mumia.”
These events are sponsored by the Labor Action Committee to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal and Oakland Teachers for Mumia, which recently protested the censorship of Long Distance Revolutionary by Shaquille O’Neal, an owner of the Cineplex 12 in Newark which canceled its scheduled showing of Long Distance Revolutionary last May.
For more information: www.laboractionmumia.org, www.mumia-themovie.com, www.prisonradio.org, www.rachelwolkenstein.net
July 1, 2013 Phone: (650) 996-7888
MUMIA—Innocent and Framed!
Bay Area Premiere of Manufacturing Guilt
“MUMIA—Innocent and Framed!” are events on July 5 and July 7 marking the 31st anniversary of Mumia’s conviction and death sentence for a crime he did not commit. They will be the West Coast premiere of the new short film Manufacturing Guilt, coming just days after the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections cut off Mumia's phone calls, following his appeal argument challenging the state's “secret sentencing” of him to life imprisonment.
The international campaign for Mumia Abu-Jamal’s freedom has a powerful and new weapon: Manufacturing Guilt --How Philadelphia’s Police and DA Actively Manufactured Mumia Abu-Jamal’s Guilt and Suppressed his Innocence. Manufacturing Guilt is the new short film (25 minutes) by Stephen Vittoria, who produced and directed the acclaimed feature documentary Mumia—Long Distance Revolutionary. Manufacturing Guilt was produced in association with Prison Radio, and with Rachel Wolkenstein, a long-time attorney for Mumia, as Legal Consultant.
Manufacturing Guilt premieres on the West Coast at two BA events: Oakland: Friday, 5 July at 7 PM, at the East Side Arts Alliance, 2277 International Blvd, (Between 22nd and 23rd Ave.) and San Francisco: Sunday, 7 July at 7 PM, 518 Valencia St., SF (Between 16th & 17th Streets). Speaking at the premiere will be Keith Cook, Mumia's older brother, and Rachel Wolkenstein.
Stephen Vittoria produced Manufacturing Guilt after completing Long Distance Revolutionary: “Based on the actual record of investigations and court filings from 1995 to 2003—evidence denied in the courts and ignored by the press--Manufacturing Guilt cuts through the years of absurdities and overt racism to produce a clear picture of how Abu-Jamal's guilt was manufactured and his innocence suppressed beginning only moments after he and Faulkner were found shot in the early morning hours of December 9th, 1981.
“This historic and courageous film is the perfect companion to Long Distance Revolutionary—a film that is unequivocal in its force regarding Abu-Jamal's innocence. It is truly an eye-opening experience.”
Mumia Abu-Jamal spoke about his case and Manufacturing Guilt: “In a case such as this innocence is irrelevant, and to quote Judge Sabo, ‘Justice is just an emotional feeling.’…Steve’s film shows a system where false confessions are used, where witnesses lie and false evidence gets introduced to get a false conviction before a judge who boasts, “I’m going to help them fry the n-----r.”
Keith Cook, Mumia’s eldest brother, is a featured speaker at the events. As Cook stated: “Manufacturing Guilt highlights truth. Everybody who has a heart for justice, passion for truth, and concern for the innocent should see this film.”
Also speaking is Rachel Wolkenstein, who was co-counsel for Mumia during the post-conviction appeals proceedings from 1995-1999 and in charge of the defense investigation that uncovered much of the evidence of Mumia’s innocence, including the confession of Arnold Beverly that he, not Mumia, shot and killed police officer Faulkner. “This was a political and racist vendetta by the state—concerted action by the Philadelphia police, DA and the U.S. Justice Department to convict Mumia for a crime they knew he did not commit,” Wolkenstein said.
Jack Heyman, ILWU Local 10 (retired), an organizer of the Longshore Workers' West Coast Port Shutdown to Free Mumia (1999), explained: “It is appropriate that Manufacturing Guilt is being shown during “Labor Fest,” which celebrates the 1934 SF General Strike called to protest the police killing of two maritime strikers. This film documents how the police and the racist capitalist courts framed Mumia Abu-Jamal, this country’s most well known political prisoner. It’ll take a fight harnessing the social power of the labor movement, acting independently of the parties of capitalism, to free Mumia.”
These events are sponsored by the Labor Action Committee to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal and Oakland Teachers for Mumia, which recently protested the censorship of Long Distance Revolutionary by Shaquille O’Neal, an owner of the Cineplex 12 in Newark which canceled its scheduled showing of Long Distance Revolutionary last May.
For more information: www.laboractionmumia.org, www.mumia-themovie.com, www.prisonradio.org, www.rachelwolkenstein.net
