In 1995 two filmmakers hid surveillance cameras in the death chamber and recorded a man's execution by electric chair. The footage was confiscated and hidden from the public ... until now.

"This movie will take you closer to an actual execution than any film ever made. It's truly groundbreaking."
- Dr. Donald Cabana, Warden

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"To be honest none of us was ready for this film, however we (ECPM), Amnesty International Germany and the HRFFB, are unanimous about its importance and relevance at the festival."
- Sarah Hajjar - 8th World Congress Against the Death Penalty, Human Rights Film Festival - Berlin 2022

THANK YOU BERLIN FOR A GREAT SCREENING!

"Execution" German Premiere
Time: 18:00 (6pm)
Zeiss-Großplanetarium - Berlin, Germany
Friday, October 21st
ABOUT THE FILM

THE FILM

"Execution" is a film about the final days of man's life on death row. This movie is the first of it's kind and features a real condemned man, a real prison warden and a real priest playing roles that they actually lived in their own lives. The film has screened by invitation at select universities and colleges across the United States and in the United Kingdom. It has also screened in major cities for a series of one-time events sponsored by Regal Theaters and Amnesty International. Even though the filmmakers don't hide the fact that this movie is a dramatic feature film, many people believe that some scenes in the film are real. The creative objective of this movie event is to take the viewer as close to the execution process as possible. The final scene of the film was shot in real time to achieve this goal of realism. As a viewer, you decide if executing a man in the name of justice is right or wrong and you decide what's real and what's not.

“The film prompted enormous interest and debate and there is still a buzz about it around campus. Fantastic! Provocative! Thought-provoking!”

- Dr. Loraine Gelsthorpe, Director of Postgraduate Programmes, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

Enter the Death Chamber

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WILLIAM NEAL MOORE - "The Condemned Man"

Billy Moore spent 16 years on Georgia's death row. He came within 7 hours of his own execution before he received a stay, largely due to the forgiveness of the victim’s family and the intervention of Mother Theresa. Billy is the only unconditional free man in America to have admited to murder and convicted of the crime.

DONALD CABANA - "The Warden"

Don Cabana is the author of the best-seller "Death at Midnight: The Confession of an Executioner". He served as the warden of the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman and has carried out 4 executions during his 30 years as a prison warden.

FATHER JOEL LaBAUVE - "The Priest"

For over ten years, Fr. Joel has ministered to hundreds of condemned men while serving as the chaplain at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as "Angola". Fr. Joel has "walked the mile" side by side with the condemned, heard final confessions, and witnessed many executions over the years.

RICHARD REMPPEL - "The Filmmaker"

Richard played a huge part in the making of this film as a co-producer and also a co-writer of the screenplay. IMDB

DANIEL DUPONT - "The Filmmaker"

Daniel is a working actor who lived in Los Angeles for years and is also known for his acting workshops. IMDB

ADDITIONAL CAST and CREW on IMDB

THE CAST

THE DIRECTOR

STEVEN SCAFFIDI

Steve is an award-winning writer, producer, director and the managing partner of Ghost Rider Pictures. His body of work includes the aclaimed films, "The People's Story: The Devastation of Central America"", "Forgotten on the Bayou: Rockey's Mission to the White House" in addition to "Execution". He created New Line Television's "First Date" and he's the recipient of the "Humanitarian Vision Award" in addition to many other accolades over his career.

CINEMATOGRAPHER

JAMES O'KEEFFE

Jim is a talented cinematographer and filmmaker from Pasadena, California. He's also an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California film school.

In this groundbreaking screening event, select theaters across America and the United Kingdom become execution chambers as a limited number of audience members are invited to enter the witness room and sit front and center for the final days of a man’s life on death row and ultimately his execution in the electric chair.

The audience follows two filmmakers who spend the last week of a condemned man’s life on death row and have two very different opinions about what their film will eventually become. One wants to tell a sympathetic story of the condemned man’s final days in prison while the other wants to show the actual execution. Ultimately, the execution is filmed with two surveillance cameras; one hidden in a ceiling vent and the other hidden on one of the death row guards.

SCREENING EVENTS

University Screenings include:
Tulane University
UCLA
University of Oregon
University of North Carolina
Seattle University
Central Washington University
Southern Illinois University
University of Cambridge (UK)
Sussex University (UK)
King's College of London (UK)

Theatrical Screenings include:
WASHINGTON DC - Regal Gallery Place Stadium 14
NEW YORK (Midtown) - Regal E-Walk Stadium 13
BOSTON, MA - Regal Fenway Stadium 13
CHICAGO, IL - Regal City North Stadium 14
ATLANTA, GA - Regal Tara 4 Theater
AUSTIN, TX - Regal Metropolitan Stadium 14
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - UA Stones Town Twin
LOS ANGELES, CA - Regal LA Live Stadium 14

Nearly 1,000 people packed the McAlister Auditorium on the campus of Tulane University to see "Execution".

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REVIEWS

"To be honest none of us was ready for this film, however we (ECPM), Amnesty International Germany and the HRFFB, are unanimous about its importance and relevance at the festival."
- Sarah Hajjar - 8th World Congress Against the Death Penalty, Human Rights Film Festival - Berlin 2022

"By recreating the execution as realistically as possible, the film aims to make people think about the reality of the images. 'Everyone who sees the film should ask themselves whether the footage is real or not,' said Steven Scaffidi, who came to Berlin to explain his working method. In the U.S., the director had movie theaters converted into execution chambers for screenings of the film and gauged the opinion of the audience on the death penalty issue. It was astonishing that when the film was shown in states where the majority of people are in favor of the death penalty, 80% of the audience were for executions. Following the screenings, close to 80% were now against the death penalty. The film's impact is due in no small part to its lead actor, William Neal Moore, who actually spent 16 years on death row for murder."

- Juergen Kiontke, Journalist - Berlin, Germany

“This is a refreshing departure from the way capital punishment is usually portrayed in films, with an emphasis on the profound effects executions have on those most intimately involved."

- Laura Moye, Director of the Death Penalty Abolition Campaign for Amnesty International USA

“The best way to stop executions is for people to witness one.”

- Sister Helen Prejean, author of “Dead Man Walking”

"You watch this film and what you've seen is an execution inside one of America's Execution Chambers."

- Dr. Donald Cabana, Warden and Best-Selling Author

“The film prompted enormous interest and debate and there is still a buzz about it around campus. Fantastic! Provocative! Thought-provoking!” Watch Video Clip
- Dr. Loraine Gelsthorpe, Director of Postgraduate Programmes, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

"We could talk in classrooms all day about whether something is right or wrong, but to see the vividness of an execution on the screen brings a weight to the conversation that you just cannot grasp otherwise. Sometimes, amidst debate, we can forget what high stakes situations feel like. We forget the drama, the agony, the tightness in our chests. This movie brought all of that to life for us. Our arguments about the death penalty would have been hollow if my classmates and I hadn't seen the movie, because we would have been lacking a first hand account of the death penalty experience."

- Sydney Matzko, Senior Journalism Student at Emerson College, Boston

"A brilliant film. A must see! It feels incredibly real."

- Dr. Neil D'Lima, Rochester, NY

"So well done! Every juror who sits on a capital punishment case should have to view this film...in fact, everyone should watch it.
I worked with the Youth Court in Adams Cty MS (Natchez) for five years. We took a group of young men to Parchman Prison in MS for a program that had some impact but nothing as visceral as this movie."

- Mary Lou England, NOLA

"The film is amazing! I can't stop thinking about it!"
- Audience Member, Los Angeles, CA

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"We were so excited that we filled the theater. It was a great event. We got students to think about the death penalty in a lot of different ways than they could imagine before they came this evening." Watch Video Clip

- Sarah Britto, PHD, Central Washington University

"It was brilliant! This was our biggest turnout!" Watch Video Clip
- Theatre Manager, Sussex University, United Kingdom

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"It's real. We were holding hands during the execution."
- Students, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA

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"Nobody took their eyes off the screen. There are some incredible things going on in this film."
- Audience Member, Seattle University Screening Event

"Execution is an immersive experience that brings you into the final days of a condemned inmate as seen through the eyes of a documentary crew. The film is so well executed, no pun intended, that there are times you struggle to convince yourself it can’t be real. The documentary shooting style, which personalizes the characters, along with the production, acting, and skillfully crafted storyline, will lead you down a path that makes you re-examine everything you’ve ever thought or felt about capital punishment."

- Rick Guy, Writer/Producer, Jackson, MS

University of North Carolina and Oregon Screening

Execution Wins Film Festival in Hollywood, California

Actual Condemned Man William Neal Moore Stars in Groundbreaking Film

EXECUTION NEWS

AMNISTY INTERNATIONAL PRESENTS A GROUNDBREAKING FILM EVENT THAT TAKES THE AUDIENCE TO THE FRONT ROW OF AN EXECUTION

Regal Cinemas opens its doors in eight major cities across America for this first-of-a-kind motion picture less than one week after California’s attempt to repeal the death penalty fails.

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THE NEW WAVE: "Tulane Prepares for Execution"

Does the death penalty represent legal justice or an antiquated and immoral institution? Whatever one's opinion, the death penalty has been one of the most debated legal and moral issues of the past generation. The death penalty will take the stage at Tulane on Tuesday (April 10) as the Tulane University Criminal Law Society hosts both the world premiere of the gritty film "Execution" and a death penalty forum.

ROME GEORGIA NEWS: "Death Row and Mass Incarceration in the United States: The New Racism?"

William Neal Moore, who came within seven hours of execution by the state of Georgia, will guide the Berry community in a discussion of race, prison and the death penalty.

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THE GUARDIAN: "Dead Man Talking"

Campaigner Billy Moore was once only seven hours away from the electric chair. Erwin James meets the only self-confessed murderer ever released from Death Row.

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THE DAILY RECORD: "Execution Film Star Was On Death Row"
ELLENSBURG - Filmmaker Steven Scaffidi wanted to portray the reality of death row with his movie "EXECUTION," which was shown Wednesday night at Central Washington University. So he used a real death row inmate, a real warden and a real death row priest in his film, which tells the fictional story of two filmmakers who made a documentary about the last seven days of an execution.
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THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: "Forgiven"

Billy Neal Moore spent 16 years on death row for killing a man. Today, he is an ordained minister who speaks to inmates about an act of forgiveness that saved his life.

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CBN: "Billy Moore - Living on Death Row"

The year was 1974. Twenty-two-year-old Army Private Billy Moore returned from deployment in Germany only to find that his wife was involved with a drug dealer and addicted to heroin.

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NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER: "The Clemency of Billy Neal Moore"

Last week, New Mexicans celebrated a great victory for justice and mercy: Governor Bill Richardson signed into law a bill abolishing the death penalty. . . This great turning point took me back nineteen years to another miraculous time, the campaign to stop the execution of Billy Neal Moore, which led to one of the great spiritual lessons of my life.

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