Justice Across Borders Film Festival Brings Global Focus to Wrongful Convictions at St. John’s University

On April 12, St. John’s University hosted Justice Across Borders, a powerful documentary film festival that brought together students, faculty, advocates, legal professionals, exonerees, and community members for a day of education, reflection, and cross-cultural dialogue on wrongful convictions and human rights. Held in St. John’s School of Law’s Moot Court, the festival took place in a setting that felt especially meaningful for conversations about justice, injustice, and the human cost of wrongful conviction.

The event was organized by the Justice Initiative Center in collaboration with St. John’s School of Law, The Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice, and the Taiwan Innocence Project (TIP), with the involvement and support of the Taiwan Center. Together, these partners created a meaningful space for attendees to engage with the human consequences of wrongful conviction through film, discussion, and shared testimony.

The program featured three documentaries from Taiwan: To Meet to Forget (2023), directed by Shih Yu-Lun; Formosa Homicide Chronicle II: The Case of LU Cheng (2001), directed by Tsai Tsung-Lung; and In the Same Boat (2025), directed by Chang Ming-Yu, alongside the US documentary Sixteen Years (2024), directed by Jia Rizvi—the award-winning film that tells the story of Jeffrey Deskovic. Together, the films brought the audience into powerful stories of wrongful conviction, revealing the emotional weight of injustice, the endurance required to pursue exoneration, and the ripple effects these cases have on families and communities. Presented side by side, the Taiwanese and US documentaries underscored the global scope of wrongful convictions and the striking similarities that emerge across countries and legal systems—among them false confessions, tunnel vision, the risk of wrongful execution, and the profound human toll of wrongful imprisonment.

In opening the event, Marina Sorochinski, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Criminal Justice and Homeland Security, The Lesley H. and William L. Collins College of Professional Studies, representing the Justice Initiative Center, emphasized the importance of creating space within the University for thoughtful engagement with difficult issues. 

“At the Justice Initiative Center, we are committed to creating opportunities for education, dialogue, and engagement around issues of justice and injustice,” she said. “We believe universities should be places where difficult issues are not avoided, but confronted thoughtfully, compassionately, and in community with others.”

She also reflected on the particular power of documentary film to humanize abstract issues and invite deeper understanding. “That is part of what makes today so meaningful. Documentary film gives us a powerful way to engage with these issues. It allows us not just to learn about wrongful convictions and their consequences in an abstract way, but to connect with the human stories behind them—the pain, the resilience, the advocacy, and the continued search for accountability and repair.”

That human dimension was especially palpable throughout the festival. Many exonerees were in attendance, and the screenings gave rise to several deeply emotional moments as audience members watched the most intense parts of the films unfold. Later in the program, it was particularly moving to witness exonerees from the United States and Taiwan come together on stage, embracing, holding hands, and embodying in real time the solidarity, compassion, and mutual recognition that the event sought to foster.

In his opening remarks, TIP Chairperson Ping-Cheng Lo captured the spirit of the day by underscoring the global nature of both injustice and the pursuit of justice. “Wrongful convictions have no borders and no language—and the pursuit of justice likewise transcends borders, echoing the theme of this event.”

He further emphasized that wrongful convictions are never caused by one person alone, and that exoneration likewise depends on collective effort:

“Wrongful convictions are never caused by a single individual; likewise, their exoneration can never be achieved by one person alone. The documentaries present different stories. Through them, we will see clearly that wrongful convictions are not the responsibility of any one person, but rather an issue of justice and human rights that concerns us all.”

The day also underscored the importance of international partnership and shared advocacy. Jeffrey Deskovic, Esq., Founder of The Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice, reflected on the significance of the festival and the common patterns revealed across the films.

“The Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice is happy to have cosponsored the emotional and historical Justice Beyond Borders film festival. The documentaries showed that wrongful convictions extend way past the US borders, with many commonalities: false confessions; tunnel vision; the devastating impact of wrongful imprisonment on the innocent and their families; and the risk of executing the innocent. The Taiwan Innocence Project is doing life-saving work with 17 exonerations since opening in 2012, and we are proud to help them widen their international footprint and impact.”

Support from the Taiwan Center also helped strengthen the event’s emphasis on cultural exchange and community connection. Sally Wu, Manager from the Taiwan Center, noted the importance of spaces that bring people together across differences and experiences.

“At the Taiwan Center, we believe in the power of cultural and community spaces to bring people together and spark meaningful dialogue. It was an honor to support this event, which not only highlighted important issues of justice and human rights, but also created a space for cross-cultural understanding and shared reflection.”

For students, the festival offered a rare opportunity to connect classroom learning with real-world legal and human rights issues on a global scale. Emilya Barwik, a junior Criminal Justice student with plans to attend law school, described the experience as especially impactful. “I am a junior criminal justice student with a focus on law school, and events such as this documentary film festival have been really influential in expanding my knowledge of what I think I know about the law. As a student who is also very interested in international law and business, hearing from organizations like the Taiwan Innocence Project team and The Deskovic Foundation for Justice was incredibly resourceful and motivating.”

By bringing together documentary film, lived experience, student learning, and international dialogue, Justice Across Borders reflected the mission of St. John’s University and the Justice Initiative Center to confront urgent social issues with seriousness, compassion, and community engagement. More than a film festival, the event became a space of encounter—one that reminded attendees that wrongful convictions are not isolated legal failures, but profound human rights issues that demand awareness, solidarity, and action across borders.