EVENTS
Benefit Film Screening - Follow Me Down: Portraits of Louisiana Prison Musicians
INTERSECTION FOR THE ARTS |
WHEN: Jan 12th, 7-9 pm |
WHERE: 925 Mission St |
Details: Follow Me Down, a feature length documentary about music in Louisiana prisons, will be presented at Intersection for the Arts, 925 Mission Street Suite 109, San Francisco at 7:00 PM on Saturday, January 12, 2013, as a benefit for the William James Association Prison Arts Project. A discussion with the filmmaker and former prison music teachers will follow the screening.
Shot over the course of two years in three Louisiana prisons, the film weaves together interviews and performances of extraordinary inmate musicians. The result plays like a concert film, but instead of bright lights and big stages, these musicians rap in okra fields, soothe themselves with R&B in lockdown and create gospel harmonies on the yard. Filmmaker Ben Harbert had unprecedented access to the prison yards, and his insistence on letting the music speak for itself, pushes viewers to reach their own conclusions about music, criminality and humanity. We travel through these prisons as would inmates. Stories are unresolved and mysteries remain. One thing, however, is undeniably clear: the powerful impact of music on those who create it.
For thirty-five years, the William James Association Prison Arts Project has brought the enlightenment of fine arts into prisons, jails and youth facilities throughout California and the country. Through their work, prisoners have uncovered hidden talents and learned to express themselves through music, poetry and painting. Proceeds from the evening’s program will benefit the organization’s art classes at San Quentin Prison and their efforts to revive the Arts in Corrections progam in all California prisons.
Tickets are available through Eventbrite at followmedownsantacruz.eventbrite.com/
For more information contact Laurie Brooks, [email protected] or Jack Bowers,[email protected]
or phone 831-607-8952
