Victim’s Parents Say West Memphis Three Documentary Shouldn’t Receive an Oscar

Victim’s Parents Say West Memphis Three Documentary Shouldn’t Receive an Oscar By DAVE ITZKOFF December 1, 2011

The parents of one of the children who was killed in the so-called West Memphis Three murder case have asked the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to refuse Oscar consideration for the documentary “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory,” saying that it celebrates the three defendants in that case.

In a letter reported by The Associated Press, Todd and Dana Moore, whose 8-year-old son, Michael, was found murdered with two other boys in West Memphis, Ark., in 1993, told the academy that the defendants were “unjustly able to enter into a plea agreement” and obtain their freedom from prison because of “public pressure that exploded due to gross misrepresentations of fact” in the “Paradise Lost” films.
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/victims-parents-say-west-memphis-three-documentary-shouldnt-receive-an-oscar/

Nix West Memphis 3 doc from Oscar race, urge victim's parents
CBC News Dec 1, 2011
The parents of one of three West Memphis, Ark., boys found dead 18 years ago have appealed to Oscar organizers to withdraw from consideration a documentary about the men convicted in the murders.

In a letter sent Nov. 22, Todd and Dana Moore requested that Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory be removed from a list of documentaries members of the U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are viewing to determine the finalists for the Oscars....

"Because of public pressure that exploded due to gross misrepresentations of fact in the two previous documentaries, Michael's killers were unjustly able to enter into a plea agreement, were released from prison and now pose additional threats to society," the Moores write in their letter.

"We implore the academy not to reward our child's killers and the directors who have profited from one of the greatest frauds ever perpetrated under the guise of a documentary film."....

Berlinger defended his film, saying he stands by his conclusion that the trio is innocent. He admitted that he started on the first documentary with the idea that the men had committed the crimes, but later concluded the justice system had erred.

The Moores granted an interview for the first film of the series, but claim in their letter to the academy that the filmmakers "misled" them. "We appeared solely in the first film because the directors lied and told us their purpose was to protect children," the letter says.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/12/01/west-memphis-3.html