PBS TO AIR DOCUMENTARY: 'TULIA, TEXAS'

When 31-year-old Freddie Brookins Jr. looked up at the big screen at
the Universal City Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles earlier this month, he
thought, "I can't believe I went through all this."

Brookins was attending the Television Press Critics Association
Conference and the promotional screening of the PBS documentary,
"Tulia, Texas" produced by Cassandra Herrman and Kelly Whalen.

Brookins was one of 46 Tulia residents who was arrested -- then later
pardoned -- on drug charges in what became one of the most
controversial drug cases in history.

In all, 39 African-Americans -- about 10 percent of Tulia's black
population at the time of the bust in 1999 -- fell victim to crooked
undercover cop Tom Coleman.

"The whole thing still troubles me," said Brookins, who spent close
to 3 1/2 years of a 20-year sentence in jail before being released in
March 2003.

"I hope this (documentary) opens everyone eyes to what really
happened," Brookins said.

Brookins' wife Terri said she hopes the one thing the documentary
accomplishes is convincing people that "this kind of thing can happen
to anybody, anywhere.

"You see this kind of thing happen on TV but don't ever believe it
can happen here or happen to me, but it can," she added.

Terri said watching the movie brought back the sadness of the
situation, in particular being separated from her husband.

Herrman and Whalen were graduate students in the documentary film
program at the University of California-Berkley when they became
interested in Tulia. They first became aware of the situation after
reading pieces written by New York Times columnist Bob Herbert.

Herrman said the duo saw the situation as a polarizing event, and she
and Whalen were determined to approach the project from a different
perspective than other media was providing.

"A lot of the media coverage ended when the prisoners were released.
We continued on through the Coleman (perjury) trail and documenting
the impact the bust had on those arrested, as well as on the
community," Whalen said.

The producers said the project provides more perspectives than others.

"We decided not to use a narrator and let those involved in both
sides of the issue tell things from their perspective," said Whalen.

"We let the viewers come to their own conclusions, and whether they
agree with us or not I think they appreciate the number of
perspectives we provide in telling the story," Whalen said.

She noted the bust and the social effect on the city may not be as
dramatic as some would hope.

"All we have to go on is what people tell us," she said. "Many in
(Tulia) say attitudes and relationships in the community haven't
changed very much."

Both producers agree it is an almost unanimous sentiment that the
people of Tulia want to put the entire episode behind them.

Herrman noted the Tulia incident has a far-reaching impact.

"It has become the poster child for what is wrong about the way (the
United States) is going about the war on drugs," she offered.

The duo spent more than five years -- from spring 2002 to fall 2007
- -- making at least 12 trips to Tulia, shooting footage and conducting
interviews.

The project was finished in January 2008.

The film premiered at the recent South by Southwest Film Festival in
Austin where it won several favorable reviews, including a positive
mention in the renowned industry tabloid "Variety."

The documentary also has been screened across the country, including
at West Texas A&M University in Canyon and at the Texas Tech School of Law.

Whalen noted the screening at WTAMU was emotional.

"These are students who for the most part grew up in the area, and
what they know of the situation is what their parents told them and
they accepted that," Whalen said.

"Now they are getting an opportunity to ask questions themselves and
form their own opinions. There was a lot more passion and intensity
in the Q&A session after the screening there than any of the others,"
she added.

Another movie about the events following the arrests -- a dramatic
theatrical release starring Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton and
directed by John Singleton -- is in the works.

Production on "Tulia" began in the fall in New Orleans but was
promptly halted after Berry found out she was pregnant with her first child.

Whalen thinks a lot of the nuance of the incident and a blurring of
veracity of the events surrounding the bust is possible in a
theatrical release. She understands how local residents might be
apprehensive about the way they will be portrayed in a dramatic presentation.

The documentary is scheduled to air in Plainview on PBS station KTXT
Channel 5, (SuddenLink cable channel 5) at 9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10
and again at 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14. Tulia residents can watch the
documentary at 2 a.m. Thursday Feb. 12 on KACV Channel 2, (SuddenLink
cable channel 3).

Whalen said it's hard to predict what local residents will think of
the film but believes there will be a certain segment of the
population that enjoys the presentation.

It's Herrman's hope that, "Regardless of an individual's view of the
situation, they can appreciate the various perspective and voices the
film presents."