''Presumed Guilty'' () is a

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

following Antonio Zúñiga, who was falsely convicted of murder. It holds the box office record for documentary in Mexico, previously held by

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut ...

's '' Fahrenheit 911''. According to ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'', this is "by far the most successful documentary in Mexico's history." The plot of the film is the attempt by two young Mexican attorneys to

exonerate Exoneration occurs when the conviction for a crime is reversed, either through demonstration of innocence, a flaw in the conviction, or otherwise. Attempts to exonerate individuals are particularly controversial in death penalty cases, especial ...

a wrongly convicted man by making a documentary. The film was released theatrically at about the same time the Oscar nominated films such as ''

Black Swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large Anatidae, waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent ...

'' and ''

The King's Speech ''The King's Speech'' is a 2010 historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Colin Firth plays the future King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, an Australian speech and language ther ...

'' were being shown on cinema screens in Mexico. It surpassed both of those films at the box office. The film was televised by Televisa on Channel 2 in the fall of 2011.

Plot

Two lawyers struggle to free a man, Antonio Zúñiga, who has been wrongly convicted by the Mexican judicial system. Zúñiga was arrested on charges of murder and convicted largely on the testimony of one man. Zúñiga was told by authorities “You did it and that’s it”. Zúñiga was given the sentence of 20 years in prison for a crime that was impossible for him to have committed. Three witnesses explained that he was at his place of work during the time of which he was accused of murder. However, the man was a close relative of the victim who had no firm evidence against Zúñiga, while the accused produced several witnesses able to place him far from the scene of the crime at the time of the murder. Despite this, Zúñiga was found guilty, and when lawyers Roberto Hernández and Layda Negrete learned about his case, they agreed to help him. Hernández and Negrete cautiously advised Zúñiga, knowing that many case like his had failed before him and they were fearful of providing Zúñiga and his family with too much hope. Before leaving for graduate school in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, Hernández and Negrete advised the family to go public with this case - they felt it was their best shot at pressuring the Mexican judicial system to admit their error and free Zúñiga. After it was revealed that the lawyer appointed to represent Zúñiga did not have a valid license to practice law, authorities reluctantly agreed to a new trial, but with the same judge, Héctor Palomares Medina, presiding. This judge showed little interest in evidence that Zúñiga was falsely convicted. Battling an arrogant judge, uncooperative witnesses and a legal system riddled with corruption, Hernández and Negrete found that it was easy to prove Zúñiga's innocence, but hard to get the authorities to acknowledge this fact. The conviction was finally overturned in 2008 after the filmmakers persuaded appeal judges to watch their film. ''Presumed Guilty'' was a selection at the

2009 Toronto International Film Festival The 34th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 10 and September 19, 2009. The opening night gala presented the Charles Darwin biography '' Creation''. ''The Young Victoria'', based ...

. According to the film, in Mexico: * 95% of verdicts are convictions * 92% of those convictions are not based on physical evidence * 78% of inmates are fed by their own families * 93% of inmates are never shown arrest warrants * 93% of defendants never see a judge The story of ''Presumed Guilty'' was made into an episode of the TV series "

P.O.V. ''POV'' (also written ''P.O.V.'') is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) public television series which features independent nonfiction films. ''POV'' is an initialism for ''point of view''. ''POV'' is the longest-running showcase on television ...

" that aired on 27 July 2010. It subsequently was nominated for three Emmy awards for "Best Research", "Best Documentary" and "Outstanding Investigative Journalism."

Ban

In February 2011, ''Presumed Guilty'' was released to Mexican audiences and one month later, a judge moved to have the film banned. This action caused the movie to gain unprecedented popularity almost overnight. The distributor said they would continue to show the movie until the order had been formally submitted. The film also spread in the form of unlicensed DVDs. One vendor said he sold 70 copies on a single Saturday, adding that he had only sold that many of other box-office hits over a full week. The order to ban the film was revoked on March 9, 2011 by a higher court based on Article 6 of the

Mexican Constitution The current Constitution of Mexico, formally the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States (), was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro, in the State of Querétaro, Mexico, by a constituent convention during the Mexican Revolution. I ...

which protects the right to free expression.

Life for Zúñiga

At the end of the film, Zúñiga is shown embracing his wife and child in a joyful reunion. However, he was later said to live in fear of retribution for the film.

Participants

* José Antonio Zúñiga Rodríguez, the wrongly convicted man * Eva Gutiérrez (wife of Antonio Zúñiga) * Rafaél Ramirez Heredia (Zuñiga's defense lawyer) * Roberto Hernández (filmmaker/lawyer) * Layda Negrete (filmmaker/lawyer) * Hector Palomares Medina (the judge) * Maricela Guzman (the prosecutor) * Victor Daniel Reyes (witness for the prosecution) * Jose Manuel Ortega Saavedra (Detective)

Production

The film was produced chiefly by Roberto Hernández and Layda Negrete. Hernández and Negrete (

LL.M. A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

1996, M.P.P. 1998) are candidates for PhDs in

Public Policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

at the

Goldman School of Public Policy The Richard and Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy, or the Goldman School of Public Policy (GSPP), is a public policy school and one of fourteen schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley. Originally named the Graduate Sch ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. They are married and have two daughters.

Accolades

''Presumed Guilty'' has received numerous awards and honors, including the following: *Emmy 2010-Outstanding Investigative Journalism *

One World Media One World Media is a non-profit organisation, registered in the UK as a charitable trust. It is based in London. The organisation describes its aim as supporting strong vibrant and independent media that empower citizens, promote justice and contrib ...

(London, 2010) - Best Feature Documentary *Documenta Madrid (2010) - Best Documentary Award and Audience Award *

East End Film Festival The East End Film Festival was one of the UK's largest film festivals. Founded in 2000 and operating in various venues across East London, the festival focused on emerging British, Eastern European, and Asian films. It ceased operations on March ...

(London, 2010) - Best Feature Documentary *

Los Angeles Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episodi ...

(2010) - Audience Award and Best International Feature *

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

Film Festival (New York, 2010) - Closing Night Film *Human Rights Watch Film Festival (Toronto, 2010) - Closing Night Film *

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by SFFILM, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in international film and vid ...

(2010) - Golden Gate Best Bay Area Documentary *

Guadalajara International Film Festival The Guadalajara International Film Festival () is a week-long film festival held each March in the Mexican city of Guadalajara since 1986. The presence in Guadalajara of delegates from other important festivals from around the world has helped M ...

(2010) - Best Documentary *

Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival CPH:DOX, also known as Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, is a Danish film festival focused on documentary films, held annually in Copenhagen, Denmark. Since 2008 it has been run by Copenhagen Film Festivals, which also organize ...

(2009) - Amnesty International Award *Morelia International Film Festival] (2010) - Best Documentary *

Belfast Film Festival The Belfast Film Festival (BFF) is an annual film festival in Northern Ireland with an attendance over 25,000. In 2022, it launched its International Competition program. BFF includes the Docs Ireland international documentary festival, as well ...

(2009) -

Maysles Brothers Albert Maysles (November 26, 1926 – March 5, 2015) and his brother David Maysles (January 10, 1931 – January 3, 1987; ) were an American documentary filmmaking team known for their work in the Direct Cinema style. Their best-known films inc ...

Documentary Award *

News & Documentary Emmy Award The News & Documentary Emmy Awards, or News & Documentary Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the National Academy of Television Arts and Scien ...

s (2011) - Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Journalism – Long Form

References

External links

*
Official site

Official site
*
Presumption of Guilt
-- ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' article
'Presumed Guilty' sheds light on failures of Mexico's justice system
-- ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' article
'Presumed Guilty': Kafkaesque tale of injustice
-- ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' article
Presumed Guilty: Based on an Untrue Story
-

article
Imprisoned In Mexico And 'Presumed Guilty'
--

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

article
PBS article
on the film and P.O.V. television episode
Presumptions of Guilt: Documentary Spurs Hope for Judicial Reform in Mexico
��article in The

William and Flora Hewlett Foundation The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, commonly known as the Hewlett Foundation, is a private foundation, established by Hewlett-Packard cofounder William Redington Hewlett and his wife Flora Lamson Hewlett in 1966. The Hewlett Foundation a ...

Newsletter
Two lawyers with cameras help rehabilitate Mexican 'justice'
by Cathy Cockrell (1 December 2008)
Dos abogados Mexicanos, con sus cámaras, ayudan a reformar el sistema judicial de su país
by Cathy Cockrell (1 December 2008)

by Andrew Cohen (7/26/2010)
Presunto Culpable, Proven Innocent
by Rachel Swan (7/28/2010)
Filmmakers pursue justice in new documentary
(7/15/2010) {{DEFAULTSORT:Presumed Guilty 2008 films 2008 documentary films Mexican documentary films 2000s Spanish-language films American films based on actual events Mexican independent films Documentary films about law POV (TV series) films 2000s American films 2000s Mexican films