Dead Man Walking (film) the same name, premiering in San Francisco. Yvonne Koslovsky-Golan, author of "The Death Penalty in American Cinema: Criminality and Retribution in Hollywood Film", stated that even though public debate on the death penalty increased for a period after the release of "Dead Man Walking", the film did not result in "real political or legal change" but that it did encourage additional academic study on the death penalty. Dead Man Walking (film) Dead Man Walking is a 1995 American crime drama film starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn, and co-produced and directed by Tim Robbins, who adapted the screenplay from the
Helen Prejean experiences with Sonnier and with the convict Robert Lee Willie. He had been sentenced to death after being convicted of kidnapping, murder in two attacks in May 1980. Sister Prejean also explored the effects of maintaining the death penalty on attorneys, prison guards, other prison officials, and the families of both convicted murderers and their victims. Prejean has worked with other men sentenced to death since then. In December 2010, Prejean donated all of her archival papers to DePaul University. In 1999, Prejean formed Moratorium 2000, a petition drive that eventually grew into a national education campaign, The Moratorium Campaign,