Award-wining Joe Berlinger to helm “The System” criminal justice seriesFebruary 19, 2014 - 12:23 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Award-wining filmmaker Joe Berlinger will direct and executive produce “The System,” an eight-part series on the criminal justice system, for Al-Jazeera America, TheWrap reported. The series, produced by Radical Media, will examine subjects such as false confessions, mandatory sentencing and the treatment of juvenile offenders. Documentaries about criminal justice (and injustice) are a specialty of Berlinger’s, best known for directing “Paradise Lost,” a film trilogy about the West Memphis Three. Those films documented the trials of a trio of teenagers convicted of murder. New evidence secured their freedom more than 18 years after they entered prison. “The System” will debut March 16 at 9 p.m. with an episode about thousands of dubious rulings and the flawed forensic evidence that produced them. Berlinger focuses on two men, one convicted as a result of questionable witness testimony and poor hair analysis, another freed because of FBI failures. A new episode will air each Sunday for two weeks after that, and the final five episodes will being airing in May. Berlinger will introduce a specific topic at the beginning of each episode, interviewing lawyers, victims, families of the accused and other experts, drawing lessons from the specific cases and also the broader implications for the criminal justice system. Berlinger’s latest film, about infamous mobster Whitey Bulger, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and will air on CNN in the Spring. Al-Jazeera America launched a documentary film unit last August a couple of weeks before the new cable channel launched in the United States. It has dedicated itself to tackling subjects like criminal justice, which get less attention in the breathless reporting of trials on many other cable news networks. Related links: Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |