Nuestro Cine: “Presumed” censorship?

Last year we briefly looked at Mexican documentary “Presunto Culpable” (“Presumed Guilty”). Today we revisit the film after it landed in a recent controversy.

The film focuses on Antonio Zuniga, a man accused of murder, and the efforts of his lawyers and supporters to free him. “Presunto” not only reveals what appears like a weak case against Zuniga but also shows numerous shortcomings of the Mexican judicial system.

In the two weeks “Presunto” was shown in Mexico it became a box-office hit and the country's highest-grossing documentary. But last week a judge issued an injunction against screening “Presunto” after one of the movie’s figures, a key prosecution witness, claimed that he did not give permission to appear in the film. As written in Global Voices, the decision led to anger among some bloggers including concerns over freedom of expression as well as conspiracy theories claiming “the judicial system does not want the film to bring to light all the irregularities in its administration.”

The clamor over “Presunto” being pulled from theaters grew over the past several days culminating in a higher court ruling yesterday to bring the movie back:

The three-judge tribunal unanimously voted against the decision to pull the film saying that, despite the potential negative attention to the plaintiff, to force the film out of theaters "caused damage to the interests of society and contravened the regulations of public order, given that society has an interest in seeing respected the right to information enshrined in the sixth article of the Federal Constitution."

If you are in the U.S. you can view “Presunto Culpable” in its entirety for free via this PBS website until March 31st. Otherwise, the following is the trailer for the documentary that has caused quite a stir in Mexico:

Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, The Hollywood Reporter, Huffington Post, Global Voices, Variety
Video Source – PBS via YouTube