Jack O’Connell and Laura Dern sizzle in trailer for ‘Trial by Fire’
Academy Award-winning director Edward Zwick (Shakespeare in Love, Traffic, Glory) brings the true-life Texas story of the unlikely bond between an imprisoned death row inmate (Jack O’Connell) and a mother of two from Houston (Laura Dern) who, though facing staggering odds, fights mightily for his freedom.
Cameron Todd Willingham, a poor, uneducated heavy metal devotee with a violent streak and a criminal record, is convicted of arson-related triple homicide in 1992. During his 12 years on death row, Elizabeth Gilbert, an improbable ally, uncovers questionable methods and illogical conclusions in his case, and battles with the state to expose suppressed evidence that could save him.
Trial by Fire was written by Academy Award winner Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious) based on The New Yorker article “Trial by Fire” by David Grann & The Letters of Cameron Todd Willingham and produced by Allyn Stewart, Kipp Nelson, Edward Zwick and Alex Soros. It premiered at the 2018 Telluride Film Festival and will next be seen at the 2019 SFFILM Festival this month.
Roadside Attractions will release TRIAL BY FIRE in theaters May 17, 2019.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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