Tulia, Texas

Director: Cassandra Herrman & Kelly Whalen
Format: HDCam   Runtime: 56 minutes
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screening in: Lone Star States
plays with: X

Screening Times

2:00 PM, Saturday March 8th - Dobie
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9:30 PM, Tuesday March 11th - Dobie
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2:30 PM, Thursday March 13th - Alamo Lamar 2
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everything subject to change

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Synopsis:
On July 23, 1999, undercover narcotics officer Thomas Coleman executed one of the biggest drug stings in Texas history. By the end of the blazing summer day, Coleman and his drug task force had rounded up and arrested dozens of residents of the small farming town of Tulia. Thirty-nine of the 46 people accused of selling drugs to Coleman were African American. It was a bold move by the man later named Texas Lawman of the Year, but it was exactly what many of Tulia's white citizens had hoped for when Coleman came to town. In the years to follow, troubling evidence about the undercover investigation and the narcotics officer's past began to surface. The documentary weaves together the stories of the last remaining defendants in jail, the families and lawyers fighting for their freedom, and the sheriff, undercover agent and townspeople who stand against them. "Tulia, Texas" is the story of a small town's search for justice and the price Americans pay for the war on drugs.

Director's Bio:
Cassandra Herrman's other work includes films about immigration, juvenile justice and civil rights. "American Exile," about an exiled Black Panther leader, screened at Sundance in 2002. For the PBS series FRONTLINE/World she has produced and photographed stories about human rights in Zimbabwe; female runners in Kenya; and the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, nominated for a 2006 National Emmy Award.
Kelly Whalen is a San Francisco-based filmmaker. She also directed and photographed "Rising from Ruin," a special television documentary for MSNBC about hurricane recovery in New Orleans; and co-produced "Fire Next Time" and "Not in Our Town: When Hate Happens Here," PBS documentaries about grassroots activism against hate crimes and speech.