Project Detail

The Phantom

©Corpus Christi Police Department

Synopsis

Who killed Wanda Lopez? The young store clerk was brutally hacked to death as she worked at a gas station in Corpus Christi TX one cold November night in 1983.
Six years later, 27 year old Carlos DeLuna was executed for her murder. All along he protested his innocence, refusing to plead guilty. DeLuna said another 'Carlos' did it. At trial the prosecution derided his claim, saying the other Carlos was "A Phantom".
DeLuna was right. The real killer was Carlos Hernandez, a psychopathic drifter with a string of violent assaults on women to his name – a man all too well known to the police and the D.A.
This film conclusively proves that the US judicial system killed an innocent man, uncovering crucial evidence that demonstrates Carlos DeLuna’s innocence, beyond any reasonable doubt.
THE PHANTOM is a searching, enraging examination of one of the darkest episodes in the history of American justice. It shows how a young man from a poor Hispanic background had no chance, faced with a judicial system bent on vengeance. Supreme Court Justices have already said this case calls the death penalty into question. THE PHANTOM proves them right.

Details

Year: 2020
Type of project: Features
Running time: 94 min
Format: RED 4K
Director: Patrick Forbes
Producer: Mark Bentley
Executive Producer: Orlando von Einsiedel
Editor: Claire Ferguson, Simon Cooper
Screenwriter: Patrick Forbes
Director of Photography: Tim Cragg
Composer: Rob Manning

Production Status

Post-production

Production Company

March Films

Mark Bentley
Suite 2
5 Rochester Mews
London
NW1 9JB

Visit Website

Sales Company

30WEST

1663 18th Street
Santa Monica
CA 90404
USA

Visit Website

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

Suggest amendments

How far would you go to defend the idea of an open press? This documentary is the extraordinary story of a man who risks everything to preserve freedom of speech in Russia. In December 2021 Dmitry Muratov is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He is the editor-in-chief of Russia’s only independent newspaper, Novaya Gazeta. Six of his journalists have been murdered, after their reports displeased the state. In February 2022 Russia invades Ukraine. In early March, using the cover of a documentary film festival, Muratov secretly negotiates free passage for forty journalists with the Latvian government. Then he returns to Moscow to look after his paper and its remaining staff. In May he announces that he is going to auction his Nobel medal and give the money to Ukrainian refugees. Days later, he is on a train. Suddenly a masked attacker pours red paint all over him. The paint is laced with acetone. Dima’s eyesight is permanently damaged. Undaunted, he goes ahead with the auction. And on June 21 Muratov’s medal sells for a record $103 million. To this day, he refuses to leave Moscow, whatever the pressure on him and his team. "Putin stands for death. I stand for life." Official Selection Sheffield DocFest 2023 - World premiere

Human Rights

Wikileaks: Secrets and Lies

Director: Patrick Forbes

Year: 2012

The people involved in Wikileaks tell their story of the saga, as human emotions clashed with journalism at the cutting edge of 21st-century technology.

Riding Time

Director: Roopa Gogineni, Farhaan Mumtaz

Year: 2026

Horse-obsessed Jaleal comes of age on the West Yorkshire moors while carrying forward the ancient cavalry sport of neza bazi. Filmed over three summers, this joyful portrait blows the dust off traditional tales of Empire, migration and belonging. Official Selection Berlin International Film Festival 2026 - International premiere

Sport