An Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story

Sunday, June 16, 2013

New York premiere! Filmmakers and film subject in person!

In 1986, Michael Morton’s wife Christine was brutally murdered in front of their only child, and Michael was convicted of the crime. Locked away in Texas prisons for a quarter century, he had years to ponder questions of justice and innocence, truth and fate. Though he was virtually invisible to society, a team of dedicated attorneys spent years fighting for the right to test DNA evidence found at the murder scene. Their discoveries ultimately reveal that the price of a wrongful conviction goes well beyond one man’s loss of freedom.

Presented in association with Innocence Project, www.innocenceproject.org and Open Society Foundations, www.opensocietyfoundations.org

The criminal justice system in the United States is riddled with error, discrimination, and unfairness. Perhaps nothing exemplifies these problems as powerfully as the convictions of those who are innocent. The battle of committed lawyers to secure their release, a fight that can last decades, testifies equally powerfully to the enduring belief that justice and respect for human rights can and should be part of the US criminal justice system. Human Rights Watch shares that belief. While we do not work on behalf of individual defendants or prisoners, we seek to reform policies and practices that tarnish justice and violate their rights.

hrw.org/united-states/us-program/excessive-punishment-and-restrictions

• Country USA
• Rating NR
• Running Time 92 minutes
• Director Al Reinert

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.