Freeing Bernie Baran

Freeing Bernie Baran is an independent documentary feature film produced by Daniel Alexander and Tom Opferman. The film chronicles the 25-year span from 1984 to 2009 in the criminal court case of “The Commonwealth of Massachusetts versus Bernard F. Baran, Jr.”

Bernard Baran was the first person convicted in the day care sex abuse hysteria of the 1980s and 1990s in the United States.[1] The film uses interviews and court documents to show the consequences of homophobia and political ambition.[2] Homophobia played such a significant role in the Baran case that the judge freeing him two decades later equated it with the other dominant aspects of day care panic cases: hysteria and suggestion.[3]

Freeing Bernie Baran made its world premiere on September 11, 2010 at the Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival (aGLIFF23) with Bernie Baran and director Daniel Alexander in attendance. The aGLIFF23 festival guide described the film as “achingly beautiful” and said “if you can only see one film at the festival, this is the one to see” concluding “it will make you angry but leave you with hope.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Pollitt, Katha. 2000-02-03. “Justice for Bernard Baran.” The Nation. “Bernard Baran was the first person convicted in the wave of daycare-sex-abuse and satanic-ritual-abuse trials that swept the country in the mid-eighties.
  2. ↑ Odam, Matthew. 2010-09-02 "AGLIFF is ready to 'Howl'" The Austin American-Statesman. "Using court documents and interviews with Baran, his family and the legal team that would eventually come to his aid years after his conviction, director Daniel Alexander depicts the consequences of homophobia and political ambition.
  3. ↑ Superior Court Criminal Action No. 18042-51. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts versus Bernard F. Baran, Jr. Memorandum of Decision and Order on Defendant’s Motion For A New Trial. 2006-06-21. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, page 32. “The defendant claims that he was deprived of the effective assistance of trial counsel in many ways, such as by his failure to properly investigate the alleged offenses, his failure to seek meaningful discovery from the Commonwealth and any assistance from experts in child psychology, failed to properly prepare for trial, failed to develop evidence that would support the defense that the evidence was unreliable and was the creature of an unfair climate of hysteria, homophobia and suggestion.”
  4. ↑ ”Martin, Chase. 2010-09-11. "aGLIFF 23: Day 5" The Republiq. One constant in Bernie’s life is the love of his mother, where he drew his inner strength to withstand all of this wrongdoing. The scenes with Bernie and his mother are achingly beautiful. Each of us owe it to Bernie Baran to witness this documentary about his life and to make sure that this injustice never happens to someone else. If you can only make it to one film at aGLIFF23, this is the one to see. It will certainly make you angry, but it will also leave you with hope.

External links