The Trials of Darryl Hunt

Synopsis

In 1984, Darryl Hunt, a young African American from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was convicted of the rape and murder of a white newspaper copy editor, Deborah Sykes. Even though there was little evidence to link Hunt to the murder. Even so, an all-white jury found him guilty and led to his spending 19 years in prison before the scale of the injustice meted out to him became clear.

THE TRIALS OF DARRYL HUNT painstakingly recounts the cause célèbre case, which was seen to define race relations in Winston-Salem for over two decades. Detailing the investigation, the false witness reports, the lack of concrete evidence, filmmakers Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg (The End of America, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work) reveal a system fraught with prejudice and an absence utterly lacking in the checks and balances that should have dismissed the allegations against Darryl Hunt before his case even reached the court.

Reminiscent of Errol Morris’ The Thin Blue Line and Jean-Xavier de Lestrade’s Murder on a Sunday Morning, The Trials of Darryl Hunt is a powerful and important film.

“Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg's remarkable documentary tells a story so harrowing, you watch without blinking, forgetting to breathe... Hunt emerges as a likable man with a deep religious faith and an astonishing ability to reject anger and bitterness.” — Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times