Image: Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus
Unorthodocs 2026 is part of the 2026 FotoFocus Biennial: The Long View.
In 1983, noted author Ta-Nehisi Coates remembers learning that a 14-year-old boy was murdered in the corridor of his Baltimore middle school; revisiting the case as an adult, he learns the truth about the three innocent teenagers who were convicted and sentenced to life.
'When a Witness Recants' explores the collateral damage the handling of this case had on the community, the wrongly accused, and the young witnesses who were pressured to betray them.
The film uses graphic novel–style animated recreations by Dawud Anyabwile as part of its treatment of the case.
