This clip is the trailer for The Exile Nation Project: An Oral History of the War on Drugs & the American Criminal Justice System. This film by Charles Shaw is a collection of testimonials from criminal offenders and family members that puts a human face on the US Government's 40 year, one trillion dollar social catastrophe, The War on Drugs–a failed policy underscored by fear, politics, racial prejudice and intolerance in a public atmosphere of "out of sight, out of mind."
The United States has only 5% of the world's population, yet a full 25% of the world's prisoners. At 2.5 million, the US has more prisoners than China. 8 million more languish under some form of state monitoring (1 in every 31 Americans). On top of that, the security and livelihood of over 13 million more has forever been altered by a felony conviction. The American use of punishment is so pervasive, and so disproportionate, that The Economist magazine declared in 2010, "never in the civilized world have so many been locked up for so little."
The Exile Nation Project is not just one film – its an online archive of interviews, short films, and other features that will grow over the next two years. When the stories hit home, people get involved, and policy can finally begin to change. It is our greatest hope that once these voices find a broader audience, people of the US will feel compelled to pressure the government to change these unfair policies and end the era of prohibition and mass incarceration.
NYC PREMIERE SCREENING
Please join us at the Downtown Community TV Center for the New York premiere screening of The Exile Nation Project. There will be a reception preceding the screening and Q & A to follow with the Director, Christian Parenti, Julie Holland, M.D., Anthony Papa, Eric Sterling, Dimitri Mobengo Mugianis, Daniel Pinchbeck and Nicole Benisch. Hosted by openDemocracy, the Drug Policy Alliance, and Evolver/Reality Sandwich.
Friday May 6th
7pm-11pm
Downtown Community Television Center
87 Lafayette Street
NY, NY 10013
http://exilenationnyc.eventbrite.com/
