THIS
NOVEMBER COMMUNITY CINEMA TRACES A FILMMAKER'S PATH FROM HONORS STUDENT
TO BANK ROBBER AND THE LASTING IMPACT OF HIS ACTIONS
*CHICAGO SCREENING TO FEATURE Q&A
WITH Chris Moore, John Maki, Brian Hill and Anthony Lowery; Moderator: Brandis Friedman*
Community Cinema, presented by the Independent Television Service (ITVS) WTTW is excited to offer an advance screening of Evolution of a Criminal, which
poses the question, How does a 16-year-old evolve into a bank robber?
Filmmaker Darius Clark Monroe searches for the answers - about himself.
Years after his release from prison, Monroe returns to his old
neighborhood to speak with family and friends, along with classmates,
teachers, law enforcement officials, and the innocent victims in the
bank on the fateful day of the robbery. An honest journey of reflection
and a personal search for redemption and forgiveness, Evolution of a Criminal, executive produced by Spike Lee, premieres on Independent Lens on January 12 at 10/9c on PBS.
A
native of Houston, Texas, Monroe had a happy childhood with his mother,
stepfather, and close-knit extended family. However, as he grew older
and saw his parents struggling to make ends meet, Monroe's vision of the
world changed: "I went from being a carefree and joyous child to
becoming acutely aware of the fact that the world was not as I saw it.
And the burden that my parents had was slowly trickling down to me."
Placing his own culpability at the heart of the story, Monroe pulls no
punches, using dramatized scenes of the bank robbery to capture the
tragically bad decisions he and his friends made, and to bring home the
terror of those they held at gunpoint. More than just a tale of a good
kid gone wrong, Evolution of a Criminal is filled with compassion for human frailty and the knowledge that a person is not forever defined by their mistakes.
WHAT:FREE preview screening of Evolution of a Criminal, followed by a community discussion about life after incarceration. When is a debt to society considered paid? How do you overcome the barriers to obtaining a job once you have a record?Do
young people have access to skill-building and education while serving
time or awaiting sentencing? What are the long-term effects on the
family of the incarcerated and on society as a whole?
WHO: Presenters:
ITVS Community Cinema and WTTW in partnership with Chicago Department
of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), Chicago Media Project's
Justice Initiative, John Howard Association of Illinois and Safer
Foundation.
PANELISTS: John Maki, Executive Director, John Howard Association
Brian Hill, Co-Founder, Jail Education Solutions
Anthony Lowery, Dir. of Policy & Advocacy, Safer Foundation
Chris Moore, Founder, Exodus Renewal Society
Moderator: Brandis Friedman, Chicago Tonight/WTTW.
WHEN: Saturday, November 15, 2014 at 2:00 PM
For more information, visit: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/evolution-of-a-criminal
About the Filmmaker
Darius
Clark Monroe (Director, Producer, Subject) attended Willowridge High
School in Houston, where he was an honors student taking advance
placement courses. In his junior year, he and two classmates robbed a
Bank of America branch near their high school. Convicted of the crime,
Monroe was sentenced to five years in prison; while serving time he
obtained his GED and took college courses, eventually deciding that he
wanted to become a filmmaker. In 2004, Monroe graduated with honors from
the University of Houston with a BA in Communications: Media
Production, and subsequently received an MFA from NYU's Tisch School of
the Arts. An award-winning filmmaker, Monroe is a National Board of
Review, HBO Short Film and Urbanworld Best Screenplay award recipient.
Most recently, he was selected to participate in the prestigious
Screenwriters Colony and chosen as a fellow at the Sundance Institute
Screenwriters Intensive. Evolution of a Criminal is his first
feature film and is the recipient of an Austin Film Society Grant, Spike
Lee Production Fellowship, Warner Bros. Film Award, Cinereach Grant,
King Finishing Award, Tribeca All Access Participant, and a selectee of
the IFP Documentary Lab.
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment