"The Execution of Wanda Jean" to be screened October 19, 2012

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"The Execution of Wanda Jean" film still

ALBANY, NY (10/06/2012)(readMedia)-- "The Execution of Wanda Jean" (United States, 2007, 94 minutes, color, directed by Liz Garbus) will be shown on Friday, October 19, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. in Page Hall, 135 Western Avenue, on the University at Albany's downtown campus. Sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute as part of its Classic Film Series and UAlbany's School of Criminal Justice, the screening is free and open to the public.

"The Execution of Wanda Jean" is the second film in a mini-series within the Classic Film Series entitled, Justice & Multiculturalism in the 21st Century. Justice & Multiculturalism in the 21st Century is a multifaceted project aimed at engaging conversations about the intersection of social justice and criminal justice in an increasingly diverse society. UAlbany's School of Criminal Justice and the Writers Institute are partnering to present six films over the next year that will explore these issues. Topics that will be explored during the fall 2012 series are genocide, capital punishment, and terrorism. Each screening will be followed by a discussion. The third film in the fall series is "Day Night Day Night" (2002, directed by Julia Loktev; November 30).

A spare and unsentimental documentary about the first African American woman to be put to death in modern times, "The Execution of Wanda Jean" follows the clemency appeal of mentally-impaired death row inmate Wanda Jean Allen. NY Times reviewer Julie Salamon said the film "offers an unusual opportunity to observe the inequities in the death penalty, not just the inherent immorality but also the haphazard administration of it...."

For additional information contact the Writers Institute at 518-442-5620 or online at http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst.

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