Nanfu Wang Docuseries “Mind Over Murder” to Debut on HBO

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Nanfu Wang Docuseries “Mind Over Murder” to Debut on HBO

Nanfu Wang will follow up “In the Same Breath,” her Indie Spirit, IDA, and PGA Award-nominated investigation into government responses to COVID-19 in China and the United States, with “Mind Over Murder,” a look inside a decades-old homicide case.  A press release announced that the six-part docuseries will debut June 20 on HBO and HBO Max.

“Mind Over Murder” “chronicles the bizarre and psychologically complex story of six individuals who were convicted for the 1985 murder of a beloved 68- year-old grandmother, Helen Wilson, in Beatrice, Nebraska. Despite five of the individuals originally confessing to the crime, the ‘Beatrice Six’ as they became known, were exonerated by DNA evidence in 2009, a turn of events which divided the rural town and incensed the family of Helen Wilson. As the filmmakers track the case from the murder, through investigation, trial, exoneration, and two civil suits, shifting perspectives cloud the truth, a stranger-than-fiction tale emerges that raises salient questions about the reliability of confessions and memory in criminal cases,” the project’s synopsis teases.

“In the Same Breath” won an Audience Award at SXSW. Wang’s other credits include “One Child Nation,” “I Am Another You,” and “Hooligan Sparrow.”

Asked what inspired her to become a filmmaker, Wang told us, “Growing up in a rural village in China, I experienced poverty, a lack of educational opportunities, and the loss of my father at a very young age. All of these experiences made me want to tell stories that could be meaningful and create change.”