Jody DiPerna
On Tuesday, December 5, City of Asylum will present a collection of short films through Beyond Walls, followed by a conversation moderated by the Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism.
This collection of short films amplify the voices of people affected by the mass incarceration — incarcerated people, as well as family, friends and activists on the outside. These films ask viewers to consider what the abolition of the prison industrial complex would look like.
‘I’m Free Now You Are Free’ is a documentary about the reunion of Mike Africa, Jr. and his mother Debbie, a formerly incarcerated political prisoner of the MOVE9. Debbie was incarcerated when she was eight months pregnant. Mike was born in a prison cell and was with his mother for three days before he was taken away. After advocating for years for his mother’s parole, Mike Africa, Jr and his mother were reunited outside of prison walls for the first time in 2018. In this film about Black family preservation, Mike Africa says, “I realized that I had never seen her feet before.”
Adamu Chan’s highly acclaimed ‘What These Walls Won’t Hold’ explores how relationships built on trust, shared liberatory struggle, and connections across broader abolitionist organizing work, can unfold into sites of resistance and radical change.
Both ‘Practical Abolition’ and ‘Defund the Police’ are short animated films that explore the possibilities of investing in community resources to keep people safe, rather than investing more money into policing.
There will be a discussion after the films moderated by Sarah Shotland.
Beyond Walls is a project of Working Films, a national nonprofit organization based in Wilmington, NC. Recognizing the power of stories to inspire and transform, Working Films builds partnerships between nonfiction media-makers, nonprofit organizations, educators, and advocates to advance social justice and environmental sustainability, and support community-based change.