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Dave MaassResidual Doubt: Portrait of A Capital Case Investigator (2005)

Under Arizona law, anyone facing a possible death sentence has a right to a "mitigation investigator." This specialist's job is to find elements in the convicted killer's past to present to the jury in the hopes that they may assign a life sentence instead of the death penalty. Mary Durand is one of these investigators, but as she nears her 60th birthday, she ponders whether it's time to leave the business.

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This movie is part of the collection: Open Source Movies

Director: Dave Maass
Production Company: Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology
Audio/Visual: sound, color
Keywords: Death Penalty; Capital Punishment; Arizona
Contact Information: residualdoubt [at] gmail.com ------or------- Dave Maass, Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology, 5th Floor, Roscoe Building, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL ---------------- also visit maassive.com

Creative Commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs

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Reviewer: Dee The Abolishemnt Movement - - October 25, 2006
Subject: Reality
This documentary was great. Mary is doing great work and sees the prison system for what it is. I will recommend this to everyone.
Dee

Theabolishmentmovement.org

Reviewer: athalon - - April 26, 2006
Subject: Couldn't get past first 5 minutes
She said the four letter word in upwards of 10 times and took my Lord Jesus Christ's name in vain. Highly offensive.

Reviewer: bjfitzwater - - November 23, 2005
Subject: She's an Angel
Yeah this chick saved my miserable life about 30 years ago. No I didn't kill anyone and I was not a client. She just descended from the heavens, picked up my soul from the streets and gave me hope and purpose. For that I will love Mary until the day I die. Now the best feeling I get out of life is helping others.
Love you Mary!
B. Fitzwater

Reviewer: mmeiser-com - - March 19, 2005
Subject: Thank you Dave Maas and Mary Durand
I have to say I wouldn't call this a breath of fresh air only because the subject matter is so dark. All I can really say is this. It is one of the most amazing short film documentaries I've ever laid eyes upon. So simple, so direct, so honest, so personable, and so directly on point. I've never seen anything like it before. I stumbled upon it completely by accident and am now wondering what else archive.org may hold. It took me to the a dark place and yet gave me hope. I feel a little better about where we're headed knowing there are activists like Mary Durand and Dave Maas out there, and I feel a little more motivated in doing what I do with media, hoping perhaps that I might be able to in some way help people find their voices and tell their stories. In encouraging and inspiring people in the way this film has inspired me. From the perspective of one who works with media daily each opportunity is an opportunity to inspire or encourage 100 more to pick up a camera, to write, to participate, in the hope that those 100 may inspire 100 more and in so doing make a difference on voice at a time.

Reviewer: Chris Edwards - - March 15, 2005
Subject: First class documentary
Through this fine documentary, Dave Maass reminds people outside the US that, even in Bush's America, there are still fair-minded and determined fighters for justice. Mary Durand is one of them and I am glad she decided not to retire. She effectively exposes the judicial cynicism that leads to people being executed as if they were on a never ending assembly line of death. It is astounding that the death penalty still exists in the US today--it was consigned to the dustbin of history in Britain decades ago.

I thought the documentary was very well done. Some feedback: the interior lighting in the house scenes was very effective--creating an intimate atmosphere. I was pleased to see that filming of court procedures is allowed--this is illegal in Britain. The lighting in the court scenes was too dark, but I imagine there was little that could be done to improve it given the restrictions in a formal hearing. I found the interviewer's questions to be muffled and difficult to understand in places. But none of this detracts from the fact that this is a powerful insight into the workings of the US judicial system.

Reviewer: MsErica - - March 15, 2005
Subject: A breath of fresh air....
Not only is this film exemplary of what a documentary should be from technical and editing aspects, it is also a paramount example of a documentary's content and subject. To capture the dichotemy of a social worker is difficult; to see the love and passion she has for her work, while at the same time see how tired, frustrated and underappreciated she is. Mr. Maass should be applauded for his efforts not only as a filmmaker, but also for his insight into this profession.

Reviewer: therussianjudge - - March 13, 2005
Subject: definitely worth downloading
'residual doubt' is exactly what a good documentary should be: informative, evocative of interest, and clear. rarely, however, does a documentary present the story of its unsung hero without all the singing. that mr. maass does so in under half an hour of footage taken during a day (and a half) in the life of his subject is as much a testament to his skill as a filmmaker as it is to mary durand as a human being. very, very well done.

Credits

Directed by Dave Maass
Edited by Anna Waddell
Music by Campo Bravo
Produced by the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology