OUR WORK
Here’s a sample of our past work and current projects.
Reimagining Incarceration
Watch our short film, Emerging: The Story of YME, created in collaboration with the incarcerated founders of the Young Men Emerging program inside the DC Department of Corrections and Arnold Ventures.
“Those closest to the problem are closest
to the solution.” - Michael Woody
Becoming Free
Becoming Free is a short documentary film that explores the reentry experience of three young people in the District of Columbia as they seek to break the cycle of poverty, violence and incarceration through entrepreneurship. But they are always walking the “thin line” that can lead back to prison with the smallest misstep or along a new path to the future.
Watch Becoming Free online at KweliTV!
Visit www.becomingfreefilm.com to find resources and learn about upcoming screenings and events. We have a free discussion guide available for download to host your own screening!
Cell 17
Cell 17 was a site-specific multimedia installation that brings viewers inside the experience of confinement in a prison cell. The installation features the voices of several men from DC who received life sentences as children and have been incarcerated for more than 20 years, through audio and video projections layering archival materials and memories from the “juvenile lifers.”
Cell 17 was presented in June 2018 in Washington, DC, as part of the By The People arts and dialogue festival.
WIRE Oral Histories
In 2018, we partnered with the women of the WIRE (Women Involved in Reentry Efforts) to gather in-depth oral histories about the experiences of formerly incarcerated women from Washington, DC. This project was funded by HumanitiesDC.
In 2020, we are developing a new partnership with the WIRE and their work on the ground with CURE The Streets to prevent violence and bring healing through restorative justice practices.