Happy news for Depp watchers — Johnny Depp will appear at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival in support of Amy Berg’s stunning documentary about the West Memphis Three, West of Memphis. West of Memphis will screen on Saturday, September 8 at 2:30 p.m. at the Ryerson Theatre as part of the Mavericks section of the festival; the screening will be followed by a live discussion of the case featuring the filmmakers and passionate supporters of the West Memphis Three. “There to help the filmmakers launch the film and participate in the press conference and Q&A will be Johnny Depp and Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines,” writes Mike Fleming of Deadline.com. “Both have been longtime supporters of a retrial for [Damien] Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr, who were convicted of triple homicide even though there was not a shred of physical evidence.”

The official press release from the Toronto Film Festival notes that Damien Echols and his wife Lorri Davis are among the producers of West of Memphis, along with Ken Kamins, Amy Berg, Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson and his wife Fran Walsh. Echols and Davis “met in 1996, while he was in prison and she was drawn to his case as a supporter. In this Mavericks event, we present West of Memphis followed by a live conversation with key people involved with both the case and the film, including Berg, Echols, Davis, and Johnny Depp, as well as Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks. Their determination is a case study in the power of hope.”

The Zone thanks Emma, Theresa, and FANtasticJD for breaking the news; you can read more about Johnny’s appearance at the Toronto Film Festival on the Zone’s News & Views forum. The press release is available HERE and the Mike Fleming article HERE.