20th Anniversary Screening of Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
About the Screening
IDA and the new Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn present a 20th anniversary screening of one of the most captivating documentaries of all time, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills—directed, produced, and edited by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky. This screening of a rare 35mm print will include a post-film Q&A with Director Joe Berlinger and Damien Echols of the West Memphis Three moderated by Liz Garbus (What Happened, Miss Simone?).
In 1993, the bodies of three eight-year-old boys were discovered in a West Memphis, Arkansas creek. Despite questionable evidence, three local teenagers—outcasts known for wearing black and listening to Metallica—were put on trial, vilified as Satanists, and eventually convicted for the murders.
The Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning Paradise Lost, the first film in what would become a documentary trilogy, is both a chilling epic crime story and a landmark of social activism. Berlinger and Sinofsky’s film represents their attempt to chronicle the unfolding saga in real time, with complete access to sources on both sides of the case. By combining its investigation with an intimate, transfixing portrait of a town torn apart by its response to a brutal tragedy, Paradise Lost changed the criminal justice landscape forever.
The New York Times called it "Mesmerizing... The fascination of detective fiction... True crime reporting at its most bitterly revealing." The Boston Globe called it "As complex and ambiguously shadowed as a good novel or fictional feature film... More satisfying than most feature [fiction] fare... Excellent."
Following the Q&A, have a drink and continue the conversation in the House of Wax bar located in the venue lobby.