Fourteen Days in May (1987)
3.6 of 5 from 45 ratings
1h 27min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
This chilling documentary was shot entirely in a Mississippi prison and shows the last two weeks in the life of 26 year old Edward Earl Johnson, a black man sentenced to be executed for the murder of a white town marshall. Johnson's conviction was based on a forced confession that he later recanted, and even the prison warden believes in his innocence. British producer/director Paul Hamann uses Johnson's case to make a strong argument against the death penalty, showing how it is disproportionately applied to black men for crimes committed against whites. The horror of Fourteen Days in May comes from watching the criminal justice system move inexorably towards the scheduled execution, despite the fact that no one really believes Johnson is guilty. Fourteen Days in May was funded by the BBC. It won top prize at Festival dei Popoli documentary film festival and was shown in 22 countries. In the United States, it has been seen only on HBO in a drastically edited version, reducing the original 80 minute running time to 48 minutes. Hartmann angrily denounced and disowned this abbreviated version. - Actors:
- Clive Stafford Smith
- Directors:
- Paul Hamann
- Writers:
- Paul Hamann, Harold Manning
- Genres:
- Documentary
