Official Selections
These films represent the breadth of experience that folks impacted by incarceration live through. From poetically moving artist retellings of the incarceration survivor experience to specific calls to action to change the system, all amplify and celebrate the authentice voice and work of incarceration survivors.
A New Day 1 (2021)
Every year, 600,000 men and women return home from incarceration. But freedom is just the beginning of a new battle. 95% of prisoners will one day reenter society, yet many face overwhelming obstacles—housing, employment, and rebuilding trust. A New Day 1 follows the journeys of three individuals navigating life after prison. Experience their struggles, victories, and the resilience it takes to start over.
Topher Hall, Director
Prison Fellowship believes wvery person is made in the image of God. No life is beyond His reach. Founded in 1976, Prison Fellowship is the nation’s largest Christian nonprofit equipping the Church to serve currently and formerly incarcerated people and their families, and to advocate for justice and human dignity both inside and outside of prison.
Broken Systems (2023)
The Impact of Incarceration on a person is profound, often leaving traumatic, mental and emotional scars long after stepping out of prison. "Broken Systems," restrictive and sometimes arbitrary parole terms wind up extending incarceration, and make it easier for a person to recidivate. Parole should be a tool to help people successfully reintegrate into their communities, not another form of punishment.
Watch at Represent Justice.
Twyana Davis, Director
Twyana Davis, a first-time director, tackled a social relevant subject in her debut film "Broken Systems."
Passionate about social injustice, Twyana embarked on a mission to shed light on the pressing issue of parole reform in the justice system. Through storytelling of personal lived experience, "Broken Systems" shares a true incident that happened to her while recently released from serving a 15 year sentence. It highlights the challenges faced while on Parole in pursuit of redemption and reintegration into society.
Twyana's thought provoking narrative and and empathetic direction has captured the hearts of audiences in in person screenings and across the social media platforms.
As a first-time director, Twyana fearlessly took on a complex subject, sparking conversations and inspiring change in the Ohio Prison system. "Broken Systems" is a testament to Twyana Davis' dedication to using film as a powerful tool for advocacy and social impact.
Injustice: Hidden Crisis in in Virginia's Prisons (2022)
InJustice: Hidden Crisis in Virginia's Prisons tells the story of how the criminal legal system impacts people and communities in Virginia. Through the stories of families, formerly incarcerated individuals and advocates we learn how policies have created a revolving door that keeps Virginians entrenched in the justice system. The film centers on three community organizers as they work to fight against the criminal legal system.
Sarah Sloan & Nick Szuberla, Producers
Roommates (2024)
After completing lengthy prison terms, two women forge a strong bond within a nursing home catering to the formerly incarcerated. Creating a positive present tense in the wake of complicated pasts, these survivors cling to simplicity, routine, and each other.
J Brooke & Beatrice Alda :
J Brooke (They/e) and Beatrice Alda (She/Her) are partners in film and life. Their award-winning 2016 feature documentary,’ Legs: A Big Issue in a Small Town’, was released on Amazon. Their 2009 feature documentary, ‘Out Late’, was acquired by First Run Features and released on multiple platforms. Together Brooke and Alda co-founded the film company Forever Films, Inc. which produced myriad commercials and short films during the early 2000’s.
A graduate of Bryn Mawr College and the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast MFA, Brooke’s short film, The Bed, debuted at Outfest, and won Cinewomen's Best Short Doc and a Silver Award at Brooklyn Film Festival. They are a frequently published essayist. A graduate of Wesleyan University, and NYU Film School, Alda began her career acting in films, including “The Four Seasons” and “Men of Respect.” She has been an LGBTQIA activist and recently became a certified instructor of the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program. Roommates is the duo’s first documentary short.
Samuel-A Journey of Discovery (2010) & Seeing the Real Object(2011)
Seeing the Real Object
Sometimes we miss what is right in front of our eyes. Seeing the real object is a story about seeing... When a boy finds a crystal ball on a park bench is his delightfully surprised by what he sees when he looks upon it with his heart.
It is a simple statement about seeing beyond what appears to be and into the possibilities life holds when we look with our heart.
The film is based on an acting exercise from Tad Danielewski's professional acting workshop.
Samuel-A Journey of Discovery
Samuel, a young Islamic man is called to teach all nations. This film is based on the Biblical calling of young Samuel as a prophet. The film is part of a trilogy that explores the same story from three different culturally and economically diverse perspectives.
Michael L Harris is an actor/filmmaker based in Northern Indiana. He has produced and directed 12 short films and numerous commercial industrial projects.
Michael is currently in development for a feature film. He is also working on two TV series and several other features.
Still Here (2022)
STILL HERE, a profoundly personal film about a Latino family in the Midwest, tells the story of three brothers whose coming of age was stained by violence, poverty, and prison. Through first person recollections, the Barrera brothers confront childhood trauma and the compounding loss of freedom. But this isn’t a story about hopelessness — it’s an intimate exploration of a love that endures decades of separation. A love that has kept these brothers together now, and indefinitely. Directed, written, filmed and edited by Mariah Barrera, the daughter and niece of the protagonists, STILL HERE is a revealing, raw and powerful portrayal of a family whose story is shared through the filmmaker’s lens.
Watch at Still I Rise Films.
Mariah Barrera
Mariah Barrera is a Mexican-American filmmaker and writer born and raised in Michigan. Currently in New York City, Mariah is a first-generation student at Columbia University. Her films have been shown at HBO-founded Urbanworld, Cleveland International Film Festival, NFFTY, DOC NYC and highlighted by NowThis, Stylecaster, The Washington Post, Women Make Movies, and Adobe Gen Create. Mariah has garnered recognition as a YoungArts Alumna, Mitú-Walmart Film Mentee, Made In Her Image Panavision Mentee, Hispanic Heritage Foundation Awardee and Sotheby's Art Noir Grantee.
Mariah’s films aim to amplify themes of social justice and equity, drawing from her family and community’s experiences in the urban Midwest. Using these stories, she is passionate about bridging the gap between narrative and documentary through poetry. Mariah is working on her second documentary as a Still I Rise Films Fellow and is embarking on a Commercial Director Mentorship Program with the NY-based production company Picture Farm, supported by Kodak & AbelCine.
The Recall: Reframed (2022)
THE RECALL: REFRAMED examines the 2018 recall of California Judge Aaron Persky, who lost his judgeship after handing down a sentence deemed too lenient by many in the infamous sexual assault case involving Stanford swimmer Brock Turner. The recall came at the height of the #MeToo movement, and some hailed it as a victory against rape culture, white privilege, and a system stacked against survivors of sexual violence. But there’s more to the story. The film offers competing perspectives and asks the difficult question: Who actually bears the burden when we demand harsher punishment for a privileged white defendant?
Rebecca Richman Cohen
Rebecca is an Emmy Award nominated documentary filmmaker and, since 2011, a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School. Her directorial debut, WAR DON DON (HBO), won the Special Jury Prize at the SXSW Film Festival. Salon called her second feature, CODE OF THE WEST (America ReFramed), “one of the best movies about America’s drug war.” In 2016 she produced UNTOUCHABLE, which won the Albert Maysles New Documentary Director Award at the Tribeca Film Festival. She has produced a number of short advocacy films for venues and platforms ranging from the New York Times Op-Docs series to screenings in the Department of Justice and Congress. Rebecca was profiled in Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces in Independent Film as an “up-and-comer poised to shape the next generation of independent film.”
Two Wolves (2023)
Prison is dark and hopelessness is darker. But the path forward starts with self-empowerment and there are many examples before and around us of how to reach our potential and achieve liberation.
Watch at Represent Justice.
Shannon Ross
Shannon Ross is the Executive Director of The Community, which he founded with invaluable outside support in 2014 while he was serving a 17 year prison sentence. The Community addresses the effects of the criminal punishment system with two arms: Pre-entry and Correcting the Narrative. Pre-entry leverages their newsletter, read by half the Wisconsin prison population, and their developing educational tech platform (in partnership with Sia) will provide incarcerated people with the highest-quality level of resources, encouragement, training, education, and — most importantly — emotional intelligence content to return to society as successfully as possible, rather than trying to get prepared after or immediately before release. Their Correcting the Narrative campaign showcases the successes, humanity, and agency of people with criminal records rather than the fear, pity, and spectacle narratives. Ultimately, they seek to bring society and the system-impacted community exactly where they need each other to be.
Since his release September 2020, Shannon is also a graduate student at UW-Milwaukee, host of the All In, All Out podcast; co-owner of a trucking/mobile advertising company focused on helping system impacted people succeed in that field and a reentry consulting firm, a member of several boards and committees, and a grateful new father.
Until We All Count (2023)
In Georgia, hundreds of thousands of people cannot vote because of a felony conviction. Page and Kareemah, two friends who crossed paths in prison, have different stories but a common goal, to raise awareness and end the discriminatory practice of taxation without representation.
“Until We All Count” reveals felony disenfranchisement as a remnant of Jim Crow, designed to suppress the votes of Black Georgians — and celebrates the roots-up advocacy of formerly incarcerated women in Georgia working to win back our rights.
Watch film at Represent Justice.
Page Dukes: Page Dukes is a core organizer with liberatory memory and writing projects Mourning Our Losses and Georgia Freedom Letters, and Communications Associate at the Southern Center for Human Rights, where she raises awareness about the effects of incarceration and the need for agency and accuracy in conversations about people in prison. She’s honored to serve on the board with amazing orgs Motherhood Beyond Bars, which supports families separated by incarceration, and Georgia Coalition for Higher Ed in Prison, which advocates for equitable access to education. She dreams of new backdrops for our collective imagination, ones where no one is locked up out of sight and out of mind.
What These Walls Won't Hold (2023)
Transcending the grim realities of the COVID-19 pandemic, Adamu Chan's powerful documentary, "What These Walls Won't Hold," paints a poignant portrait of resilience and hope blossoming within the confines of San Quentin State Prison. Chan, formerly incarcerated himself, offers a unique insider's view as he weaves a tapestry of relationships that bind together his community. The film delves into his own journey towards freedom, while simultaneously amplifying the voices of his fellow incarcerated and their loved ones on both sides of the prison walls.
Watch on PBS
Adamu Chan: He is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, and community organizer whose artistry is deeply rooted in relationships and lived experience. Based in the Bay Area, Adamu discovered his passion for filmmaking during his incarceration at San Quentin State Prison, where he used his unique perspective to craft powerful visual stories that amplify voices often silenced. His films invite viewers into conversations about social justice, resilience, and the transformative power of community.
