#HumanRightsMatters: a series of Human Rights films and discussions which address those matters which impact the quality of human lives on planet Earth.
The earth, managed responsibly, can support human wellbeing. Instead an economic system and a culture of unbridled consumption has grown twisted to create wealth for one percent of the population at the expense of the “other” 99 percent and at the expense of the earth itself. The 33,000 Americans dying each year from gun violence, Erick Garner, Tamir Rice and Mike Brown perishing from police violence, 200 girls abducted in Nigeria, 150 children murdered in Pakistan, the over incarceration of black males in the US, countless sexual assualts on college campuses, global environmental degradation, hunger and 20,000 deaths attributable to climate change all add up to a public health crisis of global proportion, a monumental assault on Human Rights.
#HumanRightsMatters will attempt to re-contextualize the facts about violence; environmental degradation; and economic inequality. Through re-contextualizing the discourse, the series ambition is to deconstruct the class, race, gender, ethnic, national, regional, political and religious constructs that serve as barriers to empathy and action for change.
#HumanRightsMatters will feature full length feature film and a collection of short film on these issues created by film makers from around the world. All lives matter and the achievement of justice requires both personal and systematic change. Films included will address both elements of the equation on a monthly basis.
KICK OFF EVENT - FEBRUARY 28, 2015
#HumanRightsMatters kickoff event, on Saturday, February 28, 2015 features the film “Evolution of a Criminal,” Darius Clarke Monroe’s award winning documentary about the personal and systematic components behind a 16 year old’s decision to rob a bank and, his efforts to turn his life around during and after incarceration. A discussion between the film maker and Glenn Martin, founder of JustLeadershipUSA https://justleadershipusa.org/ moderated by Soffiyah Elijah, the Executive Director of the Correctional Association of NY http://www.correctionalassociation.org/ will immediately follow. The screening and panel discussion will be held Madiba Harlem at My Image Studios, 46 West 116th Street. Studio C doors will open at 2:00 pm.
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SYNOPSIS OF THE FILM
EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL
Directed by Darius Clark Monroe
Logline:
How does a 16 year-old evolve into a bank robber?
Long Synopsis:
How does a 16 year-old evolve into a bank robber? In EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL, filmmaker Darius Clark Monroe asks this very question—about himself. After seeing his mother and stepfather struggle to make ends meet while living outside of Houston, Texas, Monroe decided to help them by robbing a bank with two friends.
Returning to his neighborhood several years after the crime, Monroe creates an incredibly intimate and personal journey of reflection and forgiveness while examining lower class struggles, the desperation of a teen under pressure, and the emotional impact that rippled in the aftermath of that day.
Monroe interviews family members, close friends, mentors and those innocent bystanders who happened to be at the bank on that fateful day. Family and friends recount the stages of his transformation - going from a joyous childhood to the moment he realized the severity of his family’s financial problems, and how their struggles changed his outlook on society and his life as a whole. The people from the bank remember that day vividly, as he asks for their forgiveness 10 years after the act.
EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL is not only a story of a good kid gone bad, but also brings forth the issues of economic injustice, poverty, race, and the importance of family in a very moving and insightful way.
TICKET DETAILS
(scroll down for tickets)
Admission to the screening includes these two options:
- $25 for a prefix dinner and admission (menu available below)
- $10 drink and admission
5% of event proceeds will be contributed to JustLeadershipUSA
For any queries you may contact at 212 828 6478 or [email protected]
#HumanRightsMatters is being presented by Madiba Harlem at My Image Studios in partnership with Blackout For Human Rights
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