BLOODSWORTH
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MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO THE PRODUCTION OF BLOODSWORTH
Our campaign via Kickstarter.com was just the first step in raising the full budget for BLOODSWORTH. To continue our production efforts and ensure the completion of the full length film, the IFP (Independent Filmmaker Project in NYC), our 501(c)3 non-profit fiscal sponsor, is able to accept tax-deductible donation on our behalf. To make a donation please click below. (Firefox or Safari browser recommended)
We’ll make sure to keep you updated on the films progress as we work toward its completion.
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THANK YOU!
We are very excited to announce that our campaign to get BLOODSWORTH underway via Kickstarter.com was a resounding success, raising $25,841 toward the production of the film. This much needed boost will allow us to create a 25-35 minute work-in-progress video which will be used to seek out further mentorship and funding for the project throughout 2012 as we work to complete the entire feature length documentary.
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ABOUT THE FILM
In 1985, Kirk Noble Bloodsworth was sentenced to die in a Maryland penitentiary for the brutal rape and murder of 9 year old Dawn Hamilton.
This dark journey began almost 9 months earlier on July 25th, 1984 when two young boys, who were fishing in a small pond behind the apartment complex where Dawn lived, witnessed her walk off into the woods with a man they described as skinny, six-foot-five, with a bushy mustache, tan skin, and blonde hair. They were the last people to see her alive.
Hours later, Dawn’s body was found lying face down in the woods by a Baltimore Police Detective.
At the time of the murder Kirk did not live in the area and was neither six-foot-five, nor was he blonde with a bushy mustache. He was a six-foot, brawny redhead with mutton-chop sideburns who had worn glasses since age five. He had witnesses who could place him at home at the time of the murder, and there was no physical evidence that linked Kirk to the crime scene.
In the end, Kirk was convicted primarily by his slim resemblance to a composite drawing based on the eyewitness testimony of the two young boys, and the eyewitness identification of three others, one of whom identified Kirk only after seeing him on the news.
Arrested within three weeks of the murder, Kirk maintained his innocence from day one assuming that somehow, some way, the police would realize they had the wrong man and the nightmare would end.
Sadly, it did not. In March of 1985, Kirk Bloodsworth entered the dark recesses of the Maryland State Penitentiary alone, branded a monster, as he began his 9-year battle to prove his innocence from the confines of a 6×9 cell.
Weaving together archival footage, Kirk Bloodsworth’s own compelling re-telling of his ordeal, and animated reenactments based on court records, police reports, and Kirk’s visceral memories, BLOODSWORTH recounts the remarkable true story of how an honorably discharged former-US Marine with no criminal record was charged, convicted and sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, and how, through his relentless commitment to his innocence and a truly incredible sequence of events, Kirk became the first individual in the United States to be exonerated by DNA evidence; an event that sparked an important shift in the criminal justice system that has led to the overturning of 200 wrongful convictions across the nation.
Ultimately, BLOODSWORTH takes us deep into, what is for many of us, uncharted territory. A first hand glimpse into the shrouded depths of the American criminal justice system, and into the psyche of a man who was wrongfully imprisoned and arrested in time; forever trapped in a moment, a case, a crime that has fundamentally and forever shaped his life, and has yet to let go.
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KIRK TELLS HIS STORY
Listen to Kirk tell his story in the video below. Please note, Kirk does describe the graphic nature of the crime for which he was convicted.
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ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
BLOODSWORTH is the second documentary feature from director Gregory Bayne after the highly acclaimed JENS PULVER | DRIVEN. Currently, BLOODSWORTH is in the early phases of development and production on a 25-35 minute work-in-progress video that captures the story, tone and scope of the film, -a required show piece for courting additional funding and support from the majority of granting foundations and organization who fund documentary productions such as PBS, Sundance and the Ford Foundation.
Learn more about the work of Gregory Bayme, Producer & Director of BLOODSWORTH
View the portfolio for Matthew Wade, lead animator on BLOODSWORTH
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DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
My films are driven by a voracious curiosity, and genuine desire to understand our contemporary human condition, as seen through the lens of our ever evolving American culture. From this entry point I find the stories that I explore are often laced with issues relevant to our current national psyche, though I feel pulled to bypass the obvious practice of coming at them from head on, and prefer to explore them through the stories of remarkable characters.
It is an understatement to say that Kirk Bloodsworth is a truly remarkable character.
I have witnessed Kirk giving his 40-plus minute account of his wrongful conviction several times now and have been impressed that, even possessing the knowledge of the ins and outs of his case, he still has the ability to transport me, along with the rest of his audience, into his world each time and without fail.
His message resonates in the words passed on to him by his late mother, “Stand up!” he remembers her saying, tears in his eyes, “Stand up!” It’s his mantra. Two words that cut to the heart of his character.
A victim of circumstance, his life forever altered as he was cast into a world that would make most men crumble, Kirk chose to stand up, every day he was in prison, and continues to do so today for the hundreds of others in this country that share his story.
Because of this BLOODSWORTH is fundamentally a character driven film focusing on Kirk’s own experience to create a fully realized portrait of what it feels like to be an everyday individual violently snatched out of their normal free existence and tossed into a true living nightmare. Kirk had absolutely nothing to hang his hope on except the knowledge of his innocence, a fact that only he (and his family) believed in. Two trials returned the verdict of guilty, and the People of the State of Maryland had sentenced him to death. He was, to most, a monster, and he was never going to leave prison. How, in facing that stark reality, does one maintain any level of composure, focus or diligence to stand up for the truth that would one day set them free?
BLOODSWORTH captures the power of this indomitable human spirit, illustrating how one survives, even thrives, in the face of incredible adversity.
-Gregory Bayne
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