I wanted to present blended together both an informative and a review piece concerning: In Prison All My Life
The film debuted October 25th at the BFI 50th London Film Festival and Rome's Foreign Film festival. Right away you will find the film marked by incredible stars. Colin Firth is the excutive producer. On it's own it would not be a huge point for me but him contributing his efforts to this cause delights me incredibly. Continuing on we find the contributers in the the film itself amazing;
- Angela Davis
- Noam Chomsky
- Alice Walker
- Amy Goodman
- Ramona Africa
- Mos Def
- Snoop Dogg (do not disregard at first appearance)
After covering a major part of WHO is the film we can look at WHAT is the film. The core of the film is the case and the life of Mumia Abu-Jamal. The problematic trial (an incredible understatement) the fact that he has been in solitary confinement for a quarter of a century and has had a death sentence looming over his head for a large portion of that time. This story has been considered by AI (Amnesty International) an addition to the movement to abolish the death penalty.
An amazing element of the film and probably amongst the strongest of them is the fact that there were interviews with people WHO HAD NEVER TOLD THEIR STORY OF THAT NIGHT ON LOCUST STREET. I am sure it would catch people by surprise that police acted unprofessionally in such a case, when a police officer was murdered. Countless pieces of even NEWER evidence are shown in the film, interviews with Michael Schiffman are highlighted and focused upon. For those not recognizing the name he authored "Race Against Death. Mumia Abu-Jamal: a Black Revolutionary in White America" also he should be remembered for the fact that his photos were not presented to a 1982 jury.
These are only a few examples of the amounts of evidence presented to us by William Francome. But the question is raised why still? Why after 25 years? I wanted to include a statement from Francome that answers just that question to close this entry.
William Francome ---
I think the fact that Mumia's case is still being debated after twenty five years is an issue in itself. It seems unbelievable to me that you could keep someone in solitary confinement for a quarter of a century as well as having a death sentence hanging over him that whole time. The starting point of this film is that it's been my whole life, and considering all the things that I have done and all the memories I have really helps to put the whole thing in perspective. Try thinking back to what you were doing in 1981 and it might have the same effect. In that time, there have been hundreds of people executed and there are still over 3,000 currently sitting on death row in America. However, despite evidence that people innocent of the crimes they were convicted for have been executed and over 100 people who have been exonerated and released from death row because of new evidence, the death penalty system in America still grinds forward.
After 25 years, the questions of race, cost and inadequate legal representation have yet to be fully and honestly addressed and the issues that caused it to be declared unconstitutional in the 70's persist. In short, as long as there is a death penalty in the United States, Mumia's case and the case of all death row inmates will remain vital and important. People should see this movie because they too seek for answers and honesty from the criminal justice system, and they too, want to gain a greater understanding of the inherent flaws in the death penalty system in the U.S.
Even if people can't relate to the story of Mumia Abu-Jamal or are not affected by it, they might still be able to relate to my story. I think for many people, the journey that I'm going on is enough on its own. This is the story of two lives coming together in a sense, and hopefully it will allow many who have previously been uninterested in the issues surrounding the case to sit up, take notice and find out more on their own. In a ninety minute film, it is hard to comprehensively look into any subject, but you hope that it gives the audience enough to go away and delve further.
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