Saturday, October 2nd

Racially Charged

Screening: October 2, 2021 3:10 pm

Running Time: 35 minutes

America’s Misdemeanor Problem exposes how our country’s history of racial injustice evolved into an enormous abuse of criminal justice power.  13 million people a year – most of them poor and people of color – are abused by this system. Through first-person accounts of those charged under the Black Codes of the Reconstruction era paralleled with the outrageous stories of people trapped in the system today, the film brings to light the unfolding of a powerful engine of profits and racial inequality. With the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement, this film provides historical context and examines America’s history of racist oppression. The primary inspiration for this documentary comes from Alexandra Natapoff’s book, “Punishment Without Crime,” which offers an urgent new interpretation of inequality and injustice in America by examining the paradigmatic American offense: the lowly misdemeanor. Based on extensive original research, legal scholar Alexandra Natapoff reveals the inner workings of a massive petty offense system that produces over 13 million cases each year. People arrested for minor crimes are swept through courts where defendants often lack lawyers, judges process cases in mere minutes, and nearly everyone pleads guilty. This misdemeanor machine starts punishing people long before they are convicted; it punishes the innocent, and it punishes conduct that never should have been a crime. As a result, vast numbers of Americans–most of them poor and people of color–are stigmatized as criminals, impoverished through fines and fees, and stripped of drivers’ licenses, jobs, and housing.

Fighting For Family

Screening: October 2, 2021 3:46 pm

Running Time: 31 minutes

Fighting For Family tells the story of a family from the indigenous tribes of Vietnam separated by incarceration and deportation and their fight for reunification. The film captures the love story of a young family who faces countless challenges, yet continues to be hopeful, resilient, and joyful. Fighting for Family discusses the U.S. imperialist war machine and the intergenerational harm that it inflicts, from the refugee flight to the school to prison to deportation pipeline, but also highlights the power of resilience and community resistance.

Tutwiler

Screening: October 2, 2021 4:17 pm

Running Time: 34 minutes

Tutwiler, a documentary short from FRONTLINE (PBS) and The Marshall Project, offers a powerful and unforgettable window into the lives of incarcerated pregnant women — and what happens to their newborns. What is it like to give birth — and then be forced to say goodbye to your baby 24 hours later? To most mothers, it’s a scenario that’s unimaginable. But it’s a reality for the dozens of pregnant women behind bars in any given year at Alabama’s notorious Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women. Directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon (Heroin(e), Recovery Boys) and reported and produced by The Marshall Project’s Alysia Santo.