A compelling human story of righteous indignation, heroism, and international importance…” — Variety

A nightmarish journey into Mexico’s legal system that seems lifted from the pages of Franz Kafka…” — Wall Street Journal

POV‘s 25th season of independent nonfiction on PBS continues with the Emmy Award-winning documentary Presumed Guilty.

Watch it on Thursday, August 23, 2012. Check local listings »

Watch Presumed Guilty
August 23, 2012, on POV.

Imagine being picked up off the street, told you have committed a murder you know nothing about and then finding yourself sentenced to 20 years in jail. In December 2005 this happened to Toño Zúñiga in Mexico City and, like thousands of other innocent people, he was wrongfully imprisoned. The award-winning Presumed Guilty is the story of two young lawyers and their struggle to free Zúñiga. With no background in film, Roberto Hernández and Layda Negrete set about recording the injustices they were witnessing, enlisting acclaimed director Geoffrey Smith ( The English Surgeon, POV 2009) to tell this dramatic story.

On POV’s Presumed Guilty companion site, you can watch scenes from the film, learn how the first-time filmmakers turned into “lawyers with cameras”, and find out what’s happened to Toño Zúñiga.

Did you know? Many POV films are available free to stream online and on your mobile devices. Visit POV’s Watch Video page or download the PBS mobile app for iPhone or iPad, and see which films are available today!

POV’s 25th season on PBS continues Thursday nights through October.

Published by

POV Staff
POV (a cinema term for "point of view") is television's longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction films. POV premieres 14-16 of the best, boldest and most innovative programs every year on PBS. Since 1988, POV has presented over 400 films to public television audiences across the country. POV films are known for their intimacy, their unforgettable storytelling and their timeliness, putting a human face on contemporary social issues.