I watched "No Tomorrow" last week at the Human Rights Festival at the Lincoln Center. It tells a story about a girl who was murdered with 13 shots by her lover. Risa Bejarano grew up in foster homes, and participated in the filmmaker's last film "Aging Out", on the same subject. It's a controversial movie, done after Risa's death, where the prosecutor used images to defend the victim, and without the filmmaker's consent.
Juan Jose Chavez, her lover, is now sentenced to death, (which according to research will only happen in about 15 years).
The film is a lot about Death Penalty, it's pro's and con's. Apparently it's extremely expensive to have people on the death row. Others claim that the life of someone in Prison is good.
The problem of the film: The ONLY "proof" they had that Juan Chavez was the murderer was a testimony from one of his gang members. That was IT! Now. Is that enough? The jury claims he knew it in details, so he must be right. But what if HE himself was the murderer?
The filmmakers were at the theatre for a Q&A after the movie, they didn't really defend this point. A lawyer in favor and a lawyer against death penalty were also present for a discussion.
Risa had just graduated with a Scholarship in college to study Psychology, the first one in her family to graduate high school. The movie also presents the difficulty of children/teenager living in foster homes.
The filmmakers are present in the movie, claiming they were not aware the prosecutor would use their footage against Juan Jose Chavez who was then sentenced to death.
