The Vera Institute of Justice and the Sidewalk Film Festival present an advanced screening of the award-winning film CLEMENCY, which took home the top prize for a dramatic film at the Sundance Film Festival and opens in theaters nationally on December 27th.

Join us for the film screening and a conversation on the power of storytelling and social justice featuring experts Rachel Morgan (Sidewalk Film Festival), Connor Sheets (Reckon/AL.com), and Dillon Nettles (ACLU of Alabama), moderated by Kindred Motes (Vera Institute of Justice/Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Young Leaders).

When: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17

2:00-4:30 PM

Where: Sidewalk Cinema | Downtown Birmingham, AL

More About the Film:

How do you salvage your marriage when you are struggling to salvage your soul, your sense of self, and your sense of right and wrong? Bernadine Williams (Alfre Woodard) is a prison warden who, over the years, has been drifting away from her husband while dutifully carrying out executions in a maximum security prison. When she strikes up a unique bond with Anthony Woods (Aldis Hodge), who is on death row, a layer of emotional skin is peeled back, forcing Bernadine to confront the complex—and often contradictory—relationship between good intentions, unrequited desires, and what it means to be sanctioned to kill.

Clemency is an absorbing and penetrating character study that pulls into deep focus the various ways in which people facing impossible ethical circumstances strive to achieve some state of grace. Director Chinonye Chukwu crafts a dense, emotional film through masterful restraint and precision, drawing forth radiant performances that illuminate the internal grapplings of people working in and affected by our country’s criminal justice system. A rare, sensitive, and deeply observant prison drama, Clemency offers a fresh and meaningful contribution to the genre.