Past Festivals
2019 Film Festival
Take a look at all of the films from the 2019 Festival.
Screening: September 29, 2019 12:00 am
Running Time: 101 minutes
For more than three decades, Alabama public interest attorney Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, has advocated on behalf of the poor, the incarcerated and the condemned, seeking to eradicate racial discrimination in the criminal justice system. An intimate portrait of this remarkable man, “True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality” follows his struggle to create greater fairness in the system and shows how racial injustice emerged, evolved and continues to threaten the country, challenging viewers to confront it.
Sunday, September 29th Schedule (PDT)
11:00 a.m. | Book Talk: Reginald Dwayne Betts
12:00 p.m. | Testif-I Living Library/Lunch
1:00 p.m. | Screening
College Behind Bars
Target Practice
Unarmed Man
2:30 p.m. | Screening
True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight For Equality
4:10 p.m. | JOTFF Awards and Closing
Screening: September 29, 2019 1:00 pm
Running Time: 7 minutes
Calvin is lost and needs help, but can anyone help him?
Sunday, September 29th Schedule (PDT)
11:00 a.m. | Book Talk: Reginald Dwayne Betts
12:00 p.m. | Testif-I Living Library/Lunch
1:00 p.m. | Screening
College Behind Bars
Target Practice
Unarmed Man
2:30 p.m. | Screening
True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight For Equality
4:10 p.m. | JOTFF Awards and Closing
Screening: September 30, 2019 1:00 pm
Running Time: 72 minutes
Civil unrest erupts after a police officer shoots and kills an unarmed man during a routine traffic stop. Forced to give a statement, the officer recounts his version of events in this scathing examination of racial profiling, fear, prejudice and violence, as the case statement interviewer unravels the incident one murky layer at a time.
Sunday, September 29th Schedule (PDT)
11:00 a.m. | Book Talk: Reginald Dwayne Betts
12:00 p.m. | Testif-I Living Library/Lunch
1:00 p.m. | Screening
College Behind Bars
Target Practice
Unarmed Man
2:30 p.m. | Screening
True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight For Equality
4:10 p.m. | JOTFF Awards and Closing
Screening: September 29, 2019 1:00 pm
Running Time: 56 minutes
College Behind Bars, executive produced by Ken Burns, tells the story of a small group of incarcerated men and women struggling to earn college degrees in one of the most rigorous prison education programs in the US – the Bard Prison Initiative. Shot over four years in maximum and medium security prisons in New York State, the film reveals the transformative power of education.
Sunday, September 29th Schedule (PDT)
11:00 a.m. | Book Talk: Reginald Dwayne Betts
12:00 p.m. | Testif-I Living Library/Lunch
1:00 p.m. | Screening
College Behind Bars
Target Practice
Unarmed Man
2:30 p.m. | Screening
True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight For Equality
4:10 p.m. | JOTFF Awards and Closing
Screening: September 30, 2019 3:15 pm
Running Time: 89 minutes
A Marine veteran working as a school janitor tries to mend his relationship with his son after a divorce. When his son is killed by a police officer found innocent without standing trial, he takes matters into his own hands.
Saturday, September 28th Schedule (PDT)
11:00 a.m. | Opening Remarks
Sen. Holly Mitchell
11:20 a.m. | Short Film
What Happened to Dujuan Armstrong?
12:00 p.m. | Book Talk: Talitha/Leflouria/Lunch
1:00 p.m. | Screening
In Pursuit of Justice
O.G.
Dilemma
2:00 p.m. | Screening
Trouble Finds You
Stop
The Chains on Edward Bailey
2:50 p.m. | Short Film
Anti Recidivism Coalition
3:15 p.m. | Screening
American Skin
It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t it
Healing Trauma
Screening: September 28, 2019 3:15 pm
Running Time: 73 minutes
Co-directed by 13 men incarcerated at a U.S. maximum security prison, this film shows the inmates’ journey of studying documentary filmmaking as a vehicle to explore their memories from childhood to incarceration.
Saturday, September 28th Schedule (PDT)
11:00 a.m. | Opening Remarks
Sen. Holly Mitchell
11:20 a.m. | Short Film
What Happened to Dujuan Armstrong?
12:00 p.m. | Book Talk: Talitha/Leflouria/Lunch
1:00 p.m. | Screening
In Pursuit of Justice
O.G.
Dilemma
2:00 p.m. | Screening
Trouble Finds You
Stop
The Chains on Edward Bailey
2:50 p.m. | Short Film
Anti Recidivism Coalition
3:15 p.m. | Screening
American Skin
It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t it
Healing Trauma
Screening: September 28, 2019 3:15 pm
Running Time: 23 minutes
This documentary follows former gang members whose abusive childhoods resulted in crime and imprisonment, and how they found redemption with Father Greg Boyle and LA-based Homeboy Industries.
Saturday, September 28th Schedule (PDT)
11:00 a.m. | Opening Remarks
Sen. Holly Mitchell
11:20 a.m. | Short Film
What Happened to Dujuan Armstrong?
12:00 p.m. | Book Talk: Talitha/Leflouria/Lunch
1:00 p.m. | Screening
In Pursuit of Justice
O.G.
Dilemma
2:00 p.m. | Screening
Trouble Finds You
Stop
The Chains on Edward Bailey
2:50 p.m. | Short Film
Anti Recidivism Coalition
3:15 p.m. | Screening
American Skin
It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t it
Healing Trauma
Screening: September 28, 2019 2:00 pm
Running Time: 13 minutes
Edward Bailey, a former inmate, shares his experiences inside the prison system. Revealing how the cycle of incarceration truly never ends.
Saturday, September 28th Schedule (PDT)
11:00 a.m. | Opening Remarks
Sen. Holly Mitchell
11:20 a.m. | Short Film
What Happened to Dujuan Armstrong?
12:00 p.m. | Book Talk: Talitha/Leflouria/Lunch
1:00 p.m. | Screening
In Pursuit of Justice
O.G.
Dilemma
2:00 p.m. | Screening
Trouble Finds You
Stop
The Chains on Edward Bailey
2:50 p.m. | Short Film
Anti Recidivism Coalition
3:15 p.m. | Screening
American Skin
It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t it
Healing Trauma
Screening: September 28, 2019 2:00 pm
Running Time: 12 minutes
A traffic stop turns sinister when two black men encounter a small-town cop on a power trip.
Saturday, September 28th Schedule (PDT)
11:00 a.m. | Opening Remarks
Sen. Holly Mitchell
11:20 a.m. | Short Film
What Happened to Dujuan Armstrong?
12:00 p.m. | Book Talk: Talitha Leflouria/Lunch
1:00 p.m. | Screening
In Pursuit of Justice
O.G.
Dilemma
2:00 p.m. | Screening
Trouble Finds You
Stop
The Chains on Edward Bailey
2:50 p.m. | Short Film
Anti Recidivism Coalition
3:15 p.m. | Screening
American Skin
It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t it
Healing Trauma
Screening: September 28, 2019 1:00 pm
Running Time: 36 minutes
Jamal, a black 16-year-old, is sentenced to LA Youth Camp for attempting to retaliate against a Hispanic gang member who killed his sister. Jamal finds himself in a dilemma when his sister’s killer checks into camp.
Saturday, September 28th Schedule (PDT)
11:00 a.m. | Opening Remarks
Sen. Holly Mitchell
11:20 a.m. | Short Film
What Happened to Dujuan Armstrong?
12:00 p.m. | Book Talk: Talitha Leflouria/Lunch
1:00 p.m. | Screening
In Pursuit of Justice
O.G.
Dilemma
2:00 p.m. | Screening
Trouble Finds You
Stop
The Chains on Edward Bailey
2:50 p.m. | Short Film
Anti Recidivism Coalition
3:15 p.m. | Screening
American Skin
It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t it
Healing Trauma
Screening: September 28, 2019 1:00 pm
Running Time: 107 minutes
O.G. follows Louis (Jeffrey Wright), once the head of a prominent prison gang, in the final weeks of his 24-year sentence. His impending release is upended when he takes new arrival Beecher (Theothus Carter), who is being courted by gang leadership, under his wing. Coming to grips with the indelibility of his crime and the challenge of reentering society, Louis finds his freedom hanging in the balance as he struggles to save Beecher. Groundbreaking in being filmed at an actual prison, with many of the men incarcerated there cast in acting roles, O.G. takes an intimate and unflinching look at the journey of one man at the precipice of freedom.
Saturday, September 28th Schedule (PDT)
11:00 a.m. | Opening Remarks
Sen. Holly Mitchell
11:20 a.m. | Short Film
What Happened to Dujuan Armstrong?
12:00 p.m. | Book Talk: Talitha/Leflouria/Lunch
1:00 p.m. | Screening
In Pursuit of Justice
O.G.
Dilemma
2:00 p.m. | Screening
Trouble Finds You
Stop
The Chains on Edward Bailey
2:50 p.m. | Short Film
Anti Recidivism Coalition
3:15 p.m. | Screening
American Skin
It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t it
Healing Trauma
Screening: September 28, 2019 12:00 am
Running Time: 98 minutes
In Pursuit of Justice covers the precedent-setting case of Greg Taylor – the first person to be proven innocent through a groundbreaking legal reform known as the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission. The Commission is a unique, independent, state-funded agency that reviews post-conviction claims of innocence if a prisoner has exhausted all other legal avenues. It is the only one of its kind in the country and can serve as a model of reform for other states.
Saturday, September 28th Schedule (PDT)
11:00 a.m. | Opening Remarks
Sen. Holly Mitchell
11:20 a.m. | Short Film
What Happened to Dujuan Armstrong?
12:00 p.m. | Book Talk: Talitha/Leflouria/Lunch
1:00 p.m. | Screening
In Pursuit of Justice
O.G.
Dilemma
2:00 p.m. | Screening
Trouble Finds You
Stop
The Chains on Edward Bailey
2:50 p.m. | Short Film
Anti Recidivism Coalition
3:15 p.m. | Screening
American Skin
It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t it
Healing Trauma
Best Short Film
Screening: September 28, 2019 11:20 am
Running Time: 27 minutes
When a young man mysteriously dies in Santa Rita jail, his mother, Barbara Doss, begins a determined quest to find out what happened to him, but quickly runs into the opaque and powerful position of American sheriffs.
Saturday, September 28th Schedule (PDT)
11:00 a.m. | Opening Remarks
Sen. Holly Mitchell
11:20 a.m. | Short Film
What Happened to Dujuan Armstrong?
12:00 p.m. | Book Talk: Talitha Leflouria/Lunch
1:00 p.m. | Screening
In Pursuit of Justice
O.G.
Dilemma
2:00 p.m. | Screening
Trouble Finds You
Stop
The Chains on Edward Bailey
2:50 p.m. | Short Film
Anti Recidivism Coalition
3:15 p.m. | Screening
American Skin
It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t it
Healing Trauma
