Sembène Film Festival: True Conviction

(Run time: 1hr 24min)

After serving a combined sixty-three years in prison for crimes they did not commit, Texas exonerees Christopher Scott, Johnnie Lindsey and Steven Phillips form the unlikeliest of investigative teams—helping wrongfully convicted prisoners obtain freedom through the emergence of DNA evidence or new information.

In Jamie Meltzer’s hard-boiled yet rousing documentary True Conviction, brotherly bonds are formed out of life-or-death circumstances. Through the steadfast fieldwork of this grassroots “dream team,” these Dallas detectives transform decades of hard time into a new career helping others.

Focusing on two cases—Max Soffar (a Death Row inmate of 35 years who was forced into a triple murder confession in Houston when he was a young man), and Isaiah Hill (sentenced to life in prison on aggravated robbery charges after refusing a plea bargain)—the trio logs in hundreds of miles digging up fresh evidence on behalf of their incarcerated clients.

Through tenacity, hope and determination these freedom fighters work together to rebuild broken lives and families as they campaign to fix the criminal justice.

Sembène – The Film & Art Festival – is a group of scholars, activists and film aficionados. Our mission is to celebrate the life, showcase the work and honor the legacy of African Filmmaker Ousmane Sembene, through film and other complementary cultural events.

The Festival serves both as a vehicle and catalyst: to honor the life, work and legacy of Ousmane Sembene and to showcase film makers and other art/cultural events that speak, unflinchingly, to the important issues facing the modern African Diaspora.