The world premiere screening of “Witch Hunt” at the Toronto International Film Festival had just ended with a standing ovation, and we were all moving to the front of the theater for our Q&A session with the audience. It took a while to get everybody up there because we had a big entourage with us -- almost all of the people whose lives are examined in the film were there to be part of this special day.

When the crowd quieted down a bit, a hand went up.

“Will this film ever be shown in Bakersfield?” We all looked at each other for an answer. My co-director, Dana Nachman, took the mic and answered simply, “We hope so.”

This wasn’t the first time that question had come up. “Witch Hunt” is set there. Narrated and exec-produced by Sean Penn, it’s the story of a group of working-class moms and dads in...