MSNBC is going on a witch hunt. According to Variety, MSNBC Films, with the help of Submarine Entertainment, has picked up the documentary Witch Hunt and plans to air the piece on television after a run in theaters.
Two journalists, Dana Nachman and Don Hardy, directed the film while Sean Penn took on the executive producer role. Actually, both Nachman and Penn had double duty in the creation of the documentary. Nachman was responsible for the script writing and Penn the film’s narration.
The film explores the story of eight parents who suffered immensely when they were caught up in allegations of child molestation back in the 1980s. The story is told by members of the Bakersfield, California community who were wrongly convicted of the crime and sent to prison for decades. The villain of the story is a district attorney whose tough-on-crime attitude caused the situation to get way out of hand. Even though the town in which this travesty occurred is minute in size, Nachman and Hardy try to show how these occurrences mirror other instances during which leaders maintain control and violate civil rights.
This film will mark the second long form documentary to be acquired by MSNBC Films, which was launched earlier this year. Kurt Kuenne’s documentary Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father also delves into a rather hard-to-stomach issue involving a man who was killed by his violent ex-girlfriend. One of the best parts about watching a movie is the chance to escape from the real world and experience something out of everyday life. But stories like these are ones that need to be told and heard by the masses to prevent similar occurrences in the future. Kudos to MSNBC Films.
