New Shorts Documentary: Presumed Guilty, Awaiting Innocence
Tuesday, 18 January 2022
Image: Ankenüt, Ceylan Özgün Özçelik, 2021
For those who have spent years imprisoned, have had a loved one die at the hands of the police, or live threatened by their presence, the purpose and success of the police force and prisons is highly questionable. Looking across our meagre carceral systems, this programme explores unjust incarceration and abuses of power. From experimental observations of police boots around Central London, testimonies from families left afraid and bereaved and an epistolary to freedom in Turkey, we can see the violence that builds a police force and the human cost of indefinite imprisonment.
Curated by Miranda Mungai
Two Square Meters
Mohamed Shalaby
14'
2021
Egypt
In the aftermath of the 2011 Egyptian revolution, a mother and daughter are separated. Will Gehad’s rituals help their mother-daughter bond survive?
Letters from Silivri
Adrian Figueroa
16'
2021
Germany
The film draws on letters of the Turkish philanthropist and public intellectual Osman Kavala to document a timeline of his imprisonment. By separating voice and image the film intends intends to create an echo chamber that allows audiences to listen more carefully to Kavalas letters, while at the same time place his words in context to a civil society.
Ankebût
Ceylan Özgün Özçelik
5'
2021
Turkey
A woman, released from prison, drifts between nightmare and reality.
Boots on Ground
Kiran Kaur Brar
9'
2021
United Kingdom
An autobiographical account of a second generation British South Asian woman's experiences with the police, racism and violence in London.
RIP SENI
Daisy Ifama
20'
2021
United Kingdom
Overnight on 24th June 2020, graffiti reading ‘RIP SENI’ appeared on a public artwork outside Bethlem Royal Hospital, London. The spray-painted letters called attention to Seni Lewis, a 23-year-old black man who died at the hands of police officers while in the care of the hospital in 2010. This film is a reaction to that graffiti, exploring mental health, public art and injustice.
Wide Open
Wren Rene
7'
2021
United States
Paulette Carrington, Starr Granger, and Tamika Bell were sentenced to die in Pennsylvania when they were teenagers. After decades in prison - over 90 years collectively - they were released after the US Supreme court ruled that sentencing youth to life without parole was unconstitutional. This short film poetically depicts pieces of their transition home from prison.