JOIN US

July 29, 2026 | 6:00 PM

Riverfront Museum
222 SW Washington Street
Peoria, IL 61602

Filmmaker Margaret Byrne, Peoria native Roosevelt Myles, and attorney Ashley Cohen will be present for a post-screening discussion about wrongful convictions, police accountability, and the lasting impact of the legal system on individuals, families, and communities.

ABOUT THE FILM

Post Conviction exposes the miscarriage of justice endured by Roosevelt Myles, whose fight for exoneration in the face of Chicago’s flawed legal system has become one of the longest running post conviction cases in the country. With unprecedented access to the Cook County criminal courts, the film follows Roosevelt’s relentless effort to clear his name while also tracing the case of Jacky Burks, who is navigating his own post conviction battle while alleging abuse by the same office. Together, their stories reveal the human cost of a system designed to uphold convictions and the lasting impact it has on individuals, families, and communities.

Please join us in Roosevelt Myles’ hometown for a special community screening of Post Conviction.

EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING- MARGARET BYRNE

Award-winning filmmaker Margaret Byrne (the mind behind Beti Films) has been honored with the Excellence in Teaching award at Columbia College Chicago. Margaret has been teaching Documentary courses at Columbia for 10 years, while working on her own renowned films.

“Teaching has become deeply connected to my work as a filmmaker and to the ideas behind myLiFE, the daily filmmaking practice I’ve been developing alongside my students. At the center of both is the belief that filmmaking is a practice of attention, relationship, and learning how to move through the world more consciously,” (Margaret Byrne, via Facebook).

Margaret is currently teaching a filmmaking course at OPEN Center for the Arts over the Summer, guiding students as they develop their own short films. On behalf of Margaret’s students, we thank her for wisdom and guidance in developing our voices as young artists, and inspiring us to continue to push the limits in filmmaking and documentary storytelling.