Contaminated Memories (2019)

Contaminated Memories concerns how in 1985, Penny Beerntsen was brutally attacked on a beach in Wisconsin after which she identified her attacker. Based primarily upon her eyewitness testimony, he was convicted, but eighteen years into his 32-year sentence, a devastating discovery occurs. Penny's story enables viewers to glimpse the complexity of eyewitness testimony while considering how criminal investigations might be brought up to date with science. Contaminated Memories is carved out of material from director Debra Tolchinsky's in-process feature, True Memories and Other Falsehoods, which examines the causes and implications of false memory and false internalized belief from multiple points of view. The feature is in development with Kartemquin Films.