The summer after my sophomore year at Wesleyan, while subletting a lovely carriage house with my twin sister Alana and her inimitable boyfriend Tommy, I had a life-changing film viewing experience. We lay on the master bed, absolutely entranced by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s PARADISE LOST: THE CHILD MURDERS AT ROBIN HOOD HILLS . At the end of the movie, I remember sobbing with my sister, and then getting angry at Tommy for not being as emotionally affected. The film, about three alienated, rebellious teenagers convicted of murder in West Memphis, Arkansas, is not overly sympathetic to either side, yet it becomes clear to any non-ignoramus that these boys are absolutely innocent. At the time, my sister and I were completely up-in-arms, very aware that this was an injustice that NEEDED to be rectified. Clearly, many people felt the same. Since then, a national movement has sprung up around the case, and celebrities of all stripes, including Eddie Vedder, Margaret Cho, and Henry Rollins have voiced their support of the “West Memphis 3.” An incredible, consistently updated website tells of the latest news of the case, and gives suggestions for helping the trio out. People can do everything from buy the prisoners books off of Amazon to contribute to their Defense Fund. I spend a bed-ridden day yesterday revisiting my interest in the case. My ex-boyfriend, who knows how obsessed I was with the film and the case, bought me ALMOST HOME, the autobiography of Damien Echols, the only member of the trio who received a death sentence. In a haze of allergies, I read the entire thing yesterday. It is beautifully written, and describes Damien’s journey through the hell of false imprisonment and psychological torture to an eventual transformation and spiritual awakening as a Buddhist. It also tells of a beautiful love story, with an urbane, New York landscape architect named Lorri Davis, who began corresponding with Damien after viewing the film at MOMA. She has since moved to Little Rock and become his wife. A radio program about the love story can be found here , and an interview with Lorri here . A third documentary about the case is being made, as well as a feature film based on the first documentary. The amount of support, action and awareness that this film has mobilized is inspiring to me; another example of the transformative power (b psychological, social, and political) of documentary film. Yet I find it equally incredible that a decade after such an injustice was committed, nothing has changed for the boys; they are still prisoners of a tragically corrupt system. Still, there is hope. Going back to Agnes Varnum’s idea of the “trifecta,” I can only hope that PARADISE LOST can be added, along with Errol Morris’s THE THIN BLUE LINE and Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern’s THE TRIALS OF DARRYL HUNT , to the list of documentaries that helped exonerate innocent victims of the criminal (IN)justice system. I urge people to see PARADISE LOST and join the fight for these mens’ lives.