Academy Award winner Sean Penn, in town today to promote a documentary about Kern families wrongly convicted of child molestation, said the film’s main theme is the “populist hysteria that can be generated through fear-mongering.”

And this might not be the last the city sees of Penn, who hinted at a future project.

The actor is both narrator and executive producer of “Witch Hunt,” which has aired MSNBC and will be screened tonight at the Fox.

“This has always been part of the plan for us. From our earliest conversations with Sean, we knew we had to show our film in Bakersfield,” said the film’s co-director Don Hardy in a media release.

Hardy, Penn, and co-director Dana Nachman, will be joined by some of the exonerated men and women featured in the film at a rally at the Liberty Bell downtown beginning at 4:30 p.m.

“I have a lot to say to Sean Penn,” said Brandon Kniffen. “We owe him a lot for doing this.” Kniffen isn’t featured in the film, but he has seen it and said it’s very healing.

“It was torture,” he said of seeing his parents in court and having to testify against them. He was 9 when he was taken from them by authorities and interrogated, he said. His parents were in prison for 12 years.

The 7 p.m. Fox screening is part of a fundraiser for CLEAR, the Committee for Legislation Education and Reform.

In an exclusive e-mail interview with The Californian, Penn talked about his participation in the film.

Why did you feel it was important to lend your name and voice to this documentary?

I won’t accuse myself of thinking it was “important.” I was asked to do it, and indeed I thought I may be able to add to its profile, which it sincerely deserved.

What do you hope will come out of the publicity the film has received?

It’s simple. Viewership. All of us involved in the film believe in it on two levels. One, that it’s an exemplary piece of documentary filmmaking. And secondly, if not synonymously, that also means that we believe this is an important issue in Bakersfield and across the country. The issue being abuse of power and the need for more aggressive oversight of our systems.

Additionally, there are many parallels worth observing about the kind of populist hysteria that can be generated through fear-mongering. It’s always in the name of being tough against what we fear but it’s a curious kind of tough that is dependent on a pack mentality.

We understand you read The Californian’s 2003 series “Lords of Bakersfield” (about alleged abuses committed in the past by influential and powerful Bakersfield leaders). Was that in preparation for “Witch Hunt”? Or are you considering another project on that topic as well?

That’s an interesting question. I could say that I was curious. And I could say that the question of further developing a project is rather provocative. Thank you for the question.

by Lois Henry and Louis Medina