In 2004, Cyntoia Brown was arrested for murder. There was no question
that a 43-year-old man is dead and that she killed him. What mystified
filmmaker Daniel Birman was just how common violence among youth is, and
just how rarely we stop to question our assumptions about it. He
wondered in this case what led a girl — who grew up in a reasonable home
environment — to this tragic end?Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story
explores Cyntoia’s history and her future. Without attempting to excuse
her crime as youthful indiscretion nor to vilify her as an example of a
generation gone off the rails, Birman simply follows Cyntoia through six
years of her life after the crime, and searches for answers to
persistent questions.The camera first glimpses Cyntoia the week of her
arrest at age 16 and follows her for nearly six years. Along the way,
nationally renowned juvenile forensic psychiatrist, Dr. William Bernet
from Vanderbilt University, assesses her situation. We meet Ellenette
Brown, Cyntoia’s adoptive mother who talks about the young girl’s early
years. Georgina Mitchell, Cyntoia’s biological mother, meets her for the
first time since she gave her up for adoption 14 years earlier. When we
meet Cyntoia’s maternal grandmother, Joan Warren, some patterns begin
to come into sharp focus.Cyntoia wrestles with her fate. She is
stunningly articulate, and spends the time to put the pieces of this
puzzle together with us. Cyntoia’s pre-prison lifestyle was nearly
indistinguishable from her mother’s at the same age. History — seemingly
predestined by biology and circumstance — repeats itself through each
generation in this family.Cyntoia is tried as an adult, and the cameras
are there when she is convicted and sentenced to life at the Tennessee
Prison for Women. After the verdict, Cyntoia calls her mom to tell her
the news.In the end, we catch up with Cyntoia as she is adjusting to
prison, and struggling with her identity and hope for her future.
Cyntoia Brown did not receive a fair trial. Cyntoia should not have
been tried as an adult. She was a child living in an adult world
wrongly convicted as an adult at the age of 16
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/free-cyntoia-brown.html
. Background (Preamble): Cyntoia Brown wrongly tried as an adult to a
murder she committed in self defense at 16. She deserves tobe freed as
she has served her time for the crime she did not intend to do.
http://cyntoiabrown.wordpress.com/
https://twitter.com/#!/CyntoiaBrownhttp://cyntoiabrown-irishgreeneyes.blogspot.com/?spref=twhttp://www.facebook.com/groups/192470997459888/348915888482064/?notif_t=like
Read Cyntoia Brown – Life begins at 16 on
http://paper.li/CyntoiaBrown/1321072241You can write Cyntoia Brown at
#410593
3881 Stewart’s Lane
