Presumed Guilty: Tales of the Public Defenders
The Criminal Justice System seen through the eyes of Public Defenders.
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This 2 hour Feature Length Documentary reveals the criminal justice system through the eyes of America's most misunderstood and maligned profession, Public Defenders. Set in San Francisco, Presumed Guilty breaks new ground as it allows viewers to step inside holding cells, courtrooms, law offices, and police stations and into the inner sanctum of lawyer-client confidentiality while following two high-profile murder cases.
Presumed Guilty had a theatrical run in San Francisco and New York. It played at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, and was selected for their traveling festival.
"Will Maas, who specializes in rape and murder cases, is a thorny, tortured figure who suggests Dostoyevsky..." - Dave Kehr, New York Times.
"The least glamorous end of the criminal justice system gets needed respect in Presumed Guilty." - Jack Mathews, New York Daily News.
"Presumed Guilty - the articulation of the very stories the powerful want least to hear." - Terry Diggs, The Recorder Full Article/review by Terry Diggs
"Bottom Line: Best defense" People.com
For 25 years Skylight Pictures has been committed to producing artistic, challenging and socially relevant independent documentary films on issues of human rights and the quest for justice. Through the use of film and digital technologies, we seek to engage, educate and increase understanding of human rights amongst the public at large and policy makers, contributing to informed decisions on issues of social change and the public good. 
