By Alicia Rancilio
NEW YORK (AP) --The "Making a Murderer" filmmakers were in many ways in a race against the clock to make part two of their series, now available on Netflix.
"We were in postproduction from day one," said Moira Demos. "We were shooting and editing and shooting and editing and finding the story as we went."
The first "Making a Murderer" recounted the story of Steven Avery and his nephew, Brendan Dassey, who were convicted in the 2005 slaying of Wisconsin photographer Teresa Halbach. Avery and Dassey are serving life sentences in the killing.
Filming for the second season stopped in July and Demos and her co-director, Laura Ricciardi, only handed in the finished product to Netflix a few weeks ago.
Much of what viewers will see in this new season is Steven Avery's attorney, Kathleen Zellner, go over the entire case with a fine tooth comb to piece together what may have happened to Halbach. She's meticulous with details and has multiple experts test various theories.
In an interview, the filmmakers talked about how they handled the attention on their work, criticism from some viewers and what they hope ultimately will come from the series.
Q: Was it hard to cover the continuation of this story, when "Making a Murderer" became a part of the story?
Demos: The attention on the case didn't really affect our process because for part two, in a lot of ways, it's the inverse of part one. We're in the courtroom for four solid episodes of part one and what's going on in part two is these legal teams are fighting to just get into court. They would love to be in court to be arguing against the other side about the evidence but that's not a guarantee. So there's a lot of behind the scenes, there's a lot of preparation, there's a lot of investigation and a lot of that is happening on private property or our filming with the family is on private property, so you know we weren't so much in the spotlight. We weren't out in public.
Q: Season one made such an impact that Ken Kratz (the former district attorney of Calumet county, Wisconsin, who prosecuted Avery and Dassey) and others received death threats. What do you say to that?
Ricciardi: It's obviously disappointing to hear negative or threatening or potentially violent reactions or responses that people had. .. Obviously we have no control over how people respond. To the extent that we hoped viewers would be engaged and perhaps have a passionate response, we were hoping that that response would be good. So there are lots of people who now recognize that there are flaws in the system. There's room for improvement so it would be nice if we focused on potential reforms or just keeping the dialogue going.
Q: Some critics say that your narrative is one-sided and biased. What do you say to that?
Demos: Our point of view isn't in the series. We have a collection of subjects and characters with all different points of view. .. It's Steven Avery's journey that we're on. We're documenting the subjective experience of Steven. (Note: At the end of each episode there is a card on the screen listing at least 70 people who didn't respond or declined to be interviewed in the series. Those names include Halbach's family members and Kratz.)
Angelina Jolie To Receive Gothams Performer Tribute For “Marie”
The Gotham Film & Media Institute has announced that Academy Award®-winner Angelina Jolie will receive the Performer Tribute for her performance as Maria Callas in Pablo Larrain’s upcoming film Maria, at the 34th edition of The Gothams, taking place on Monday, December 2, at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. The tribute will honor Jolie’s rendition of legendary opera singer Callas.
“Like the legendary figure she portrays, Angelina Jolie transcends mere performance to craft something extraordinary. Her interpretation captures both Maria Callas’ complexity as an artist and the cultural resonance that defines an icon,” said Jeffrey Sharp, executive director of The Gotham. “We are thrilled to celebrate what is truly one of Ms. Jolie’s career-defining performances in the final installment of Pablo Larrain’s magnificent trilogy.”
Maria follows Callas, one of the most iconic performers of the 20th century, as she retreats to Paris after a glamorous and tumultuous life in the public eye. The film reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days as the diva reckons with her identity and life. Written by Steven Knight, with cinematography by Ed Lachman and costumes by Massimo Cantini Parrini, Maria has Jolie joined by a star-studded cast including Alba Rohrwacher (Hungry Hearts, Happy As Lazzaro), Pierfrancesco Favino (Padrenostro, Adagio), Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog, Dolemite Is My Name), and Valeria Golino (For Your Love, The Beautiful Game). Marie premiered to critical acclaim at the Venice Film Festival and Jolie’s performance continues to stun audiences at the New York Film Festival, London Film Festival and the AFI Fest. Maria will be in... Read More