Thank you seems to be the phrase my filmmaking partner Dana Nachman and I (pictured right)
are saying the most these days.  It's now about 1 week until the world premiere of our film, Witch Hunt, and the excitement is building.  First off, a huge thank you to folks behind the scenes at the Toronto International Film Festival.  We're thrilled to have the first public screening of our first documentary at TIFF.  Thank you.  Also, hearty and on-going thanks to our wonderful crew and supportive families and friends.

We've learned that you don't make a film on a shoestring budget alone.You need to surround yourself with a group of talented people who truly believe in the story you're telling.  Thank you for helping us realize our dream.

The biggest round of thank you's goes to the people who allowed us to tell their stories.  These people were put through some unimaginable hardships for crimes they didn't commit.  Their families were torn apart, their lives forever changed.  They were all alone.  Gradually, through the work of some hardworking lawyers and devoted friends (big thanks to them) they were released from prison and given a chance to pick up the pieces and move on. It has been a long road.  They were very wary of us when we first asked them to be a part of our film.  We did our best to help them through the process and slowly, unbelievably they thanked us for listening, for giving them a chance to tell the real story of what they went through.  Finally somebody was paying attention.  They became even more excited when we called them with the news that Sean Penn was now narrating their film.  His encouragement and strong belief in their stories further validated the wrongs that had been done.  We make it a point to thank Sean every time we speak to him (he always shrugs off the praise of course, that's the kind of person he is).

Now, the next round of thank you's is almost here.  Many of the exonerated men and women will be joining us in Toronto for the premiere.  They'll have a chance to see first-hand the reactions of an audience to the injustices they've endured.  There will be applause, there will be tears, there will be some small closure to this period in their lives.  Hopefully, there will also be some raised awareness that wrongful convictions do happen in the United States, Canada and all over the world.  Hopefully, in some small way our film can help to change that...it's up to all of us. 

Thank you for reading.
Don Hardy/Co-Director - Witch Hunt