Live Chat with Me Facing Life Filmmaker Dan Birman

Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story aired last night on Independent Lens and today, the filmmaker participates in a live chat with high-school students starting at 1PM PT.

This week, nearly 100 seniors at Impact Academy High School in Hayward, California screened the documentary Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story, which follows the case of Cyntoia Brown, who is serving a life sentence for a murder she committed at age of 16. The documentary, directed by Dan Birman, aired nationwide last night on Independent Lens.

At 1PM today, Dan Birman will field questions from the students in a live chat right here on Beyond the Box. Feel free to join the conversation today and discuss the film Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story.

Tags: high school, jail, justice system, juvenile, teachers

Boston Public Library Presents TULIA, TEXAS

A crowd gathers at the Rabb Auditorium at the Boston Public Library to listen to a panel discussion and watch TULIA, TEXAS.

It was a packed screening of TULIA, TEXAS last night at the Boston Public Library. The film, which looks at one of the biggest drug busts in Texas history, prompted a conversation about the difficult task of prisoner re-entry into the community as well as the lack of compensation for those wrongly accused.

Following the screening, a discussion was led by Robert Feldman, a partner at Birnbaum & Godkin and a coordinator of the New England Innocence Project, Peter Yeager, a professor of sociology from Boston University and Andrea Leverentz, an assistant professor of sociology at UMASS Boston.

Robert Feldman, who works on many local cases, discussed the difficulties of being released after spending time in prison. His personal experience with clients provided a glimpse at the intricacies of prisoner re-entry into the community, including a story about one of his clients who was murdered after being released.

Many people in attendance were surprised by the film–expecting to hear about America’s battle against drugs, but walked away learning more about the justice system in their community.

This event was made possible by our Boston Producing Partners, Hostelling International, Eastern New England Council and Boston Cares, a member of the HandsOn Network and Points of Light Institute. Community Cinema works with a diverse group of Producing Partner organizations to produce Community Cinema events in 40 cities across the U.S. Producing Partner organizations range from public television stations to national organizations to local civic groups. Our partners collaborate with leading social issue organizations in their local community to co-present screening events and provide resources to educate audiences and promote civic engagement.

Visit the Community Cinema Web site to find screenings near you >>

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Tags: independent film, justice system

Filmmaker Cassandra Herrman at West Hollywood Screening of TULIA, TEXAS

Desiree Gutierrez, Regional Outreach Coordinator; Stephen Gutwillig, the California director of the Drug Policy Alliance; Cassandra Herrman, filmmaker of TULIA, TEXAS; Kevin Michael Key, a community advocacy leader; and Kim McGill, an organizer with Youth Justice Coalition.

Playing the role of an LAPD cop, Kim McGill demonstrated how policing tactics that seem invasive are actually within the scope of California law on a volunteer from the audience.

A crowd gathers at last night's screening of TULIA, TEXAS at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood.

As I’ve been going to community cinema events for TULIA TEXAS, the documentary I co-directed with Kelly Whalen, I’ve come to realize that what makes them unique is that they do something that a broadcast cannot, which is reveal people’s immediate responses to the film. And it’s been fascinating to watch how those reactions have differed. Last night at the screening in West Hollywood, I wondered if this film about a drug sting in a small rural town would be relevant in a city as large and complex as Los Angeles. When we’ve shown the film in urban areas, I’ve sometimes been concerned that the Tulia story could be viewed as “something that couldn’t happen here.”

But at last night’s event, with a strong and diverse panel put together by Community Cinema Regional Outreach Coordinator Desiree Gutierrez, those fears were quickly allayed. The panel tied all the key issues in the film to Californians’ concerns. The audience heard from Stephen Gutwillig, the California director of the Drug Policy Alliance, Kim McGill, an organizer with Youth Justice Coalition, and Kevin Michael Key, a community advocacy leader.

Stephen Gutwillig set the tone by saying “The war on drugs is the new Jim Crow.” Earlier, he had commented to me that a film like TULIA, TEXAS conveys the human cost of the drug wars in a way statistics cannot. Kim McGill took this a step further by demonstrating what it’s like to deal with law enforcement on a daily basis. She asked for a volunteer from the audience to submit to a mock arrest. Playing the role of an LAPD cop, Kim quickly demonstrated how policing tactics that seem invasive are actually within the scope of California law. Kevin then spoke about his experience working with poor communities of color in Los Angeles and how these people are the primary casualties of the war on drugs.

The audience was engaged in the discussion and as the conversation moved beyond the war on drugs to the gang war problem in LA and the prison industrial complex, it was enlightening and rewarding for me to see the film reflected in this larger context.

-Cassandra Herrman

Visit the Community Cinema Web site to find upcoming events and screenings >>

Tags: justice system, West Hollywood