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The Poison Garden

It tells the true stories of 3 acts of racial terrorism that occurred in and out of South Florida's courts in the 1930's and draws parallels to the problems of law enforcement of today.

Writer/Director
Chris James Mancini, Evellyn Santos Evellyn Santos was born and raised in Sao Paulo/Brazil, graduated in Hotel Administration, moved to the U.S. in 1998. Currently she lives in Ft. Lauderdale. In 2016, she coordinated the assembly of exhibits for the opening of the Crime Tours Museum in Fort Lauderdale which gave her an understanding of the history of South Florida, the crime stories and social injustice that have occurred there, especially during the first 50 years of last the century. Together with the founder of Crime Tours, she helped select crime related stories that have had an effect on society and that still reflect on today and which led to the creation of a series of short films( PBS :South Florida from Crime to Crime). Chris Mancini is a criminal defense attorney with 41 years of extensive federal and state trial and grand jury practice in Miami, Palm Beach, Orlando and other courts across the nation and internationally. Born and raised in Rochester, New York and later to earn his juris doctor degree at Marquette U. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Chris Mancini arrived in Miami, Florida on assignment to the U.S. Attorney’s Office during the infamous period of the “Mariel Boat Lift” and held the post of Deputy Chief of the Major Crimes Division, U.S. Attorney for the Miami office for the U.S. Department of Justice. Chris designed and led a “murder, mystery and mayhem tour” conducted every three to four months for members of the Miami-Dade Historical Society and that has led to his deep understanding of the organization and effects of the extensive history of crime in South Florida. Mancini is the author of the book, Pirates in Blue: The True Story of the Miami River Cops.

Chris James Mancini, Evellyn Santos

Evellyn Santos was born and raised in Sao Paulo/Brazil, graduated in Hotel Administration, moved to the U.S. in 1998. Currently she lives in Ft. Lauderdale. In 2016, she coordinated the assembly of exhibits for the opening of the Crime Tours Museum in Fort Lauderdale which gave her an understanding of the history of South Florida, the crime stories and social injustice that have occurred there, especially during the first 50 years of last the century.
Together with the founder of Crime Tours, she helped select crime related stories that have had an effect on society and that still reflect on today and which led to the creation of a series of short films( PBS :South Florida from Crime to Crime).

Chris Mancini is a criminal defense attorney with 41 years of extensive federal and state trial and grand jury practice in Miami, Palm Beach, Orlando and other courts across the nation and internationally. Born and raised in Rochester, New York and later to earn his juris doctor degree at Marquette U. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Chris Mancini arrived in Miami, Florida on assignment to the U.S. Attorney’s Office during the infamous period of the “Mariel Boat Lift” and held the post of Deputy Chief of the Major Crimes Division, U.S. Attorney for the Miami office for the U.S. Department of Justice. Chris designed and led a “murder, mystery and mayhem tour” conducted every three to four months for members of the Miami-Dade Historical Society and that has led to his deep understanding of the organization and effects of the extensive history of crime in South Florida. Mancini is the author of the book, Pirates in Blue: The True Story of the Miami River Cops.

Director Statement

“Human Rights is a fundamental thing that should take priority over everything else if we envision a more humane society”. Daisaku Ikeda

“The past is not dead, It’s not even past.” William Faulkner

The Poison Garden
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