On Death Row
| On Death Row | |
|---|---|
On Death Row title card
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| Genre | Television documentary |
| Created by | Werner Herzog |
| Directed by | Werner Herzog |
| Starring | Werner Herzog |
| Theme music composer | Mark Degli Antoni |
| Country of origin |
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| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 4 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Erik Nelson |
| Cinematography | Peter Zeitlinger |
| Running time | 49 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
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| Release | |
| Original network | Channel 4 |
| Picture format | 16:9 |
| Original release | March 22, 2012 (United Kingdom) |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Into the Abyss |
On Death Row is a television mini-series written and directed by Werner Herzog. The series of four episodes grew out of the same project which produced Herzog's documentary film Into the Abyss. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on March 22, 2012 on Channel 4.
Each episode of the series focuses on a specific murder case and those convicted of the crimes, each of whom was on death row during filming. The four cases profiled are:
One of the originally planned episodes of the series was expanded to feature length and released theatrically as Into the Abyss in November 2011. Both the film and the series used the same production crew.
Herzog's visits with the inmates were very constrained, and he was typically granted only two hours for filming with each inmate. In an introduction to the broadcast of the first episode, it was stated that Herzog only was allowed two sessions of one hour each with his first subject, James Barnes.
The series showed at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale Special) on February 29, 2012, a month before its television premiere.
When the series aired on Investigation Discovery brief introductions by Paula Zahn were inserted after each commercial break. These "bumpers" were poorly received in reviews.
Each episode of the series profiles a particular death row inmate, beginning with Herzog's statement:
"The death penalty exists in 34 states of the United States of America. Currently only 16 states actually perform executions. Executions are carried out by lethal injection. As a German, coming from a different historical background and being a guest in the United States, I respectfully disagree with the practice of capital punishment".
Most of the episode's runtime consists of the interview subject speaking to Herzog, who never appears on screen. Each episode also features brief interviews with other people related to the cases, including prosecutors, defense lawyers, and family members.
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