Salem Visitor Center To Host Movie Premiere

The following was submitted by the Essex National Heritage Area:

The Essex National Heritage Commission, in partnership with the National Park Service, will premiere Salem Witch Hunt: Examine the Evidence, on Tuesday, October 4, at 7 p.m. at the at 2 New Liberty Street. Reservations are required.

 The Opening Night will begin at 7 p.m. with refreshments and a brief presentation followed by a 7:30 p.m. showtime. Scholars, the director and many others involved in the making of the film will be on hand for questions and a discussion.

For reservations contact Essex Heritage at 978-740-0444 or visit the Website.

The film about the 1692 Salem Witch Trials is based on the most recent scholarly research of the causes, events and aftermath of these famous trials. Award-winning director Tom Phillips, in association with Professor Benjamin C. Ray of the University of Virginia, wrote and directed this film, which draws on a re-examination of nearly 1,000 manuscript records and published material associated with the witchcraft trials of 1692.

The movie reveals newly found documents and research which shed new light on the trials, with re-enactors speaking the documented words of the accusers and victims, and analysis by scholars who have studied the trials for many years. 

 “This film, offers many new insights into a story that has been told and retold for hundreds of years. The history of these infamous trials is one of the most frequently asked questions by visitors at the National Park Service Visitor Center in Salem,” said Annie C. Harris, Executive Director of the Essex National Heritage Commission. “When we were offered the opportunity to re-examine this period of history with the benefit of the latest scholarship, we jumped at the chance.”

 “While many visitors know of the trials, few know the history of the events that cost the lives of twenty innocent victims,” said Rita Hennessy, acting Superintendent of the Salem and Saugus National Historic Sites. “This historically accurate interpretation of the Salem witch trials will be a centerpiece at our Visitor Center in Salem.”

 This film was shot on location at Massachusetts sites associated with the events of 1692, including the Rebecca Nurse Homestead and the Parris Parsonage foundation in Danvers and the Corwin House (Witch House) in Salem.