2020 GRANTEES
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JASIRI | DIRECTORS: JASIRI, MOYO, DUKE
Three men on death row reflect on the value of human life and the criminal justice system as they await their execution. JASIRI is a self-portrait, co-directed by three incarcerated inmates against nearly impossible odds. The film examines the devastation that capital punishment has on families, the mental health crisis that many inmates face as a result of their desperation in isolation, and the fight to maintain hope as an innocent prisoner on death row. As these men piece together their film from behind bars, they hope to craft an expression of humanity in the face of oppression. Every word, every question, every image comes directly from these men as their collective final testament.
Jasiri was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. Arrested and sentenced to death row when he was 21, he spent 14 years in solitary confinement and was executed in July, 2018. He was a member of D.R.I.V.E (Death Row Inner Communalist Vanguard Engagement) and protested the conditions on Texas Death Row. He was the author of two books: My Experience and Ghetto Music. He was an artist and freedom fighter.
Duke was arrested in 1995 when he was just 18 years old. He has spent the last 24 years in solitary confinement. During his time on death row he joined the Panthers United for Revolutionary Education and was named Minister of Defense. He has always maintained his innocence and is currently fighting in the courts for a retrial.
Moyo was arrested when he was 18 years old and has spent the last 19 years in solitary confinement. A consummate artist, He has had exhibitions in New York and Helsinki. His faith in Buddhism informs his work and for the last five years he has been working on a series of Buddha statues. He is currently studying US law at a college level.
These are artists’ names the directors have taken on in order to maintain anonymity until their film is complete.
Producers: Malla Grapengiesser, Laurence Thrush, Callie Barlow
UNTITLED DEATH ROW MEMORY FILM | DIRECTOR: ALEX MORELLI
After years of trying to expedite his own execution by the state, death-row inmate Scott Dozier finally takes his own life. He also cuts short his long-distance friendship with filmmaker Alex Morelli, who must come to terms with the loss: was it a tragedy or a victory? Photographed on vivid 16mm across geographies of memory and inside Nevada’s maximum security prison, this is a personal documentary that grapples with the violences of capital punishment and the ethics of collaboration across prison bars.
Alex Morelli is an artist and filmmaker based in Durham, NC. Drawing on personal, observational, and experimental practices, he makes films that explore intergenerational memory, collaborative storytelling, and the relationship between place and identity. His films have screened in festivals including Indie Grits, Cosmic Rays, Milwaukee Underground Film Festival, and CODEC Festival Internacional de Cine Experimental Y Vídeo. He received an MFA in Experimental and Documentary Arts from Duke University and was a 2019 Flaherty Film Seminar Fellow.
Daniel Garber (producer) is a filmmaker based in Brooklyn, NY. Most recently, he edited Lance Oppenheim's SOME KIND OF HEAVEN. Previously, he received a Cinema Eye Honors nomination for editing Sierra Pettengill and Pacho Velez's THE REAGAN SHOW, on which he was an associate producer. His short documentary credits include THE RIFLEMAN, CUBA SCALDS HIS HAND, GRAVEN IMAGE, and THE REAGAN SHORTS. His work has played at film festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, Rotterdam, Locarno, AFI FEST, BFI London, and True/False.
WE ARE INSIDE | DIRECTOR: FARAH KASSEM
After more than a decade away, filmmaker Farah Kassem returns to her hometown in Lebanon to find her city in crisis. Staying with her widowed father, Mustapha, they fight over politics, the Islamic law of inheritance for women, or about dating someone from a different religion. In an attempt to connect with her father, she starts attending his weekly poetry club meetings comprised of eleven elderly men. When Farah realizes it’s only through poetry that Mustapha and the others would hear and understand her perspective, she begins writing and sharing, becoming the club’s first young female member. When a revolution erupts nationwide, major divisions within the club emerge.
Farah Kassem was born in Tripoli, Lebanon and completed a Master’s degree in documentary filmmaking at DocNomads. Farah has worked as a director, editor, and DoP on several documentaries. Her filmography includes award-winning short documentaries that have competed in Visions du Réel, Warsaw Film Festival, DOK Leipzig, Dubai International Film Festival, and many others. WE ARE INSIDE is her debut feature.
Producer: Cynthia Choucair
Co-producer: Patricia Drati
Director of Photography: Tebbe Schöningh
Editor: Anders Jepsen