Pre-screening panel discussion hosted by The Public Square at the Illinois Humanities Council to explore issues of incarceration, race, and society’s responsibility to the wrongfully convicted with Lola Vollen, whose work is featured in the film
CHICAGO – The Public Square at the Illinois Humanities Council (IHC) will host the Chicago premiere and a pre-screening panel discussion of the documentary film, After Innocence, on Friday, February 3rd. The award-winning After Innocence, a film the New York Times calls "calm, deliberate and devastating," tells the dramatic and compelling story of the exonerated — innocent people wrongfully imprisoned for decades and then released after DNA proved their innocence. Thrust into society, ignored by the government, with no money, no jobs and no support — how do these people reclaim their lives? What happens when our criminal justice system fails and imprisons the wrong person?
The panel discussion with Rob Warden, Director of the Center for Wrongful Convictions; Lola Vollen, Co-Founder of the Life After Exoneration Program and co-editor (with Dave Eggers) of Surviving Justice: America’s Wrongfully Convicted and Exonerated and Alice Kim , national organizer for the Campaign to End the Death Penalty (CEDP) , will be held from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. at Schopf Gallery (942 W. Lake Street). Taking " After Innocence " as a point of departure, this in-depth conversation will explore issues of incarceration, race, and society’s responsibility to the wrongfully convicted. Dinner and refreshments will be served.
The screening will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Music Box Theatre (3733 N. Southport Avenue) following the panel.
Both the discussion and the screening are free and open to the public, but reservations are required and space is limited. To make reservations or for more information, contact The Public Square at the IHC at 312.422.5580 or send an email to events@thepublicsquare.org.
This screening is part of The Public Square at the IHC’s "Civic Cinema" program, a series of films, forums, and conversations that uses the most exceptionally creative and engaging documentary films of our times as a springboard for talking about some of the most pressing and challenging social issues facing us. Many of these films, including After Innocence, were funded in part by the Illinois Humanities Council.
The Public Square at the Illinois Humanities Council fosters debate, dialogue, and exchange of ideas about cultural, social and political issues with an emphasis on social justice. Our programs promote participatory democracy by creating space for public conversations.
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