Writ Writer

Director: Susanne Mason
Cast: Jesse Borrego
Runtime: 54 minutes
More Info

screening in: Lone Star States

Screening Times

4:30 PM, Thursday March 13th - Austin Convention Ctr
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1:30 PM, Saturday March 15th - Austin Convention Ctr
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everything subject to change

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Synopsis:
In 1960 a young man from San Antonio is arrested for robbery, convicted and sent to a state prison farm to pick cotton. He denies committing the robberies, but can't afford a lawyer to appeal his cases. With his eighth grade education he reads every law book he can in prison and files his appeal pro se. Prison life is brutalÑcorporal punishments frequently cruelÑand he believes it's wrong. So he writes a lawsuit against the prison director, and the walls of solitary confinement close in on him. WRIT WRITER tells the story of jailhouse lawyer Fred Cruz (b.1939Ñd.1986) and the legal battle he waged to secure what he believed to be the constitutional rights of Texas prisoners. Told by wardens, convicts, and former prisoners who knew Cruz, the story and film masterfully weave contemporary and archival film footage to evoke the fascinating transformation of a prisoner and a prison system still haunted by their pasts.

Director's Bio:
Susanne Mason's feature debut, WRIT WRITER, is the product of several years of research into the history of the Texas Department of Corrections between 1947-1978, and a lot of fundraising. Prior to and during that time she served as associate producer of a variety of public television documentaries, including Are The Kids Alright? (2004 Regional PBS); Struggle In The Fields (1996 National PBS); Songs Of The Homeland (1994, National PBS); and Go Back To Mexico! (1994, Frontline, National PBS). More recently, Mason wrote, produced and directed short documentaries about the history of Austin, Texas, for the Save Our Springs Alliance and Watershed Productions, including Town In Transition, a short doc about growth in the Texas capitol between 1950-1975. Mason's first film, Stories From The Riverside (1993), a 28-minute documentary that explores domestic homicide through the stories of three women incarcerated for murdering their abusive husbands, received a Silver Apple from the National Educational Film & Video Festival and a Director's Choice Award from the Black Maria Film & Video Festival, among other honors.