Excellent Documentary premiers on most PBS stations October 4

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2012

"Give Up Tomorrow", which I screened at the 2011 SILVERDOCS Documentary Film Festival and placed 7th on my top 10 list, will be premiering on most PBS stations around the country beginning October 4 (it will be shown October 6 on WETA at 11:30PM and October 7 on MPT2 at 10:30PM in the Baltimore/Washington area).  Corruption within the Philippines' judicial system is exposed as the filmmakers examine the sensational trial of a 19-year-old student who was found guilty of raping and murdering two sisters during a tropical storm despite evidence of his innocence.  The following was my 4 star review from June 2011, followed by a letter from Michael Collins and Marty Syjuco. Set you DVR for this one!!

"Give Up Tomorrow" (****-95 minutes) 
SILVERDOCS screened a film last year, "Presumed Guilty", which focused on the corrupt Mexican criminal justice system that wrongly convicted a Mexican street merchant of murder. Michael Collin's film about a clearly innocent Filipino student, Paco Larranaga (along with 6 others), falsely accused and sentenced to death for the kidnapping, rape, and murder of two sisters, makes that Mexican case seem like a parking ticket trial. Paco's case eventually involved the U.N., Amnesty International, and even the country of Spain who are feverishly trying to free Paco, who has now been imprisoned for over a decade. Two Cebuana sisters, Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong, disappeared on July 16, 1977. When a blindfolded, battered, and handcuffed body of a young woman was found in a ravine two days later, the police, who first declared it wasn't one of the sisters, reversed field and said the corpse was Marijoy based on fingerprints. Paco had one minor fighting incident as a teenager and was currently attending a culinary school in Cebu, 300 miles from where the girls were abducted. Despite the testimony of 35 witnesses (students and teachers), including photographs of him there the night the girls were taken attesting to his presence in Cebu, Paco was convicted along with six others. This doesn't even scratch the surface of the injustice he faced over the next twelve years. Winner of this year's Tribeca Special Jury, Best Director Prize., this beautifully edited, riveting, comprehensive true-to-life nightmare should help generate even more worldwide support from everyone who screens it. The PBS P.O.V. film will air on PBS sometime in 2012 

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 We are very excited to announce that TOMORROW, October 4, will be our US Television Premiere on PBS as part of POV's 25th Anniversary Season. The exact broadcast time and date varies depending on your location so please check your local listings by typing in your zip code here. (New York and LA will premiere on Sunday, October 7). And for those in the US, the film will also be streaming for 30 days online. While Paco's situation has improved since going to Spain, he remains in prison. September marked his 15 year anniversary behind bars for a crime that the whole world now knows he didn't commit. Read a recent bold and heartfelt statement from Paco's sister Mimi here. This is a tremendous opportunity for impact. We've been fortunate to screen in more than 60 festivals all over the world, but it is with this single broadcast that we will reach the most people at one time. Please help us spread the word. Tune in to POV on October 4, and join the campaign to Free Paco  Now!

Our warmest,

Michael and Marty

 P.S. Please join us on Facebook and our official website for the latest updates on our US premiere and our theatrical release in the Philippines.