All Southern Circuit Events will include a screening and discussion with one of the filmmakers and in some cases a community panel. 

Across the United States, community leaders of different ages, backgrounds and geographies are fighting for criminal justice reform. Their work has tangible impacts on the lives of those around them and together they look to a future where no one is left behind. Independent Lens Bridge Builders is a series of short documentaries highlighting these changemakers and their communities, collectively crafting a picture of the reform landscape nationwide.

 This screening will include a discussion with moderator Austin Thompson, Murtaza Khwaja, (Exec Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice) Terrica Ganzy, (Executive Director of Southern Center for Human Rights) and filmmaker Adamu Chan.

The Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers connects independent filmmakers with communities throughout the South for screenings and conversations around stories, important topics, and the art of filmmaking. Since Southern Circuit’s inception in 1975, hundreds of filmmakers from around the country have toured, sharing their work and perspectives with over one hundred Screening Partner communities across the South. 

Southern Circuit Screening Partner organizations host touring filmmakers and present screenings with Q&As and other engagements such as class visits, meet-and-greets, and workshops. Screening Partners include universities, community arts centers, municipalities, historic cinemas, places of worship, and more, serving diverse audiences of all ages. 

Bridge Builders | Big Arms | Haki Sekou

Filmmaker: Zac Manuel (Director)
Logline: Building bridges of compassion and health for formerly incarcerated people in New Orleans.
Description: Haki Sekou is one of two Community Health Workers at the Formerly Incarcerated Transitions (FIT) Clinic in New Orleans. Equipped with his own experiences from time served at Angola Louisiana State Penitentiary, Haki empowers recently released individuals who are facing the same roadblocks that he encountered through education, understanding, and care.

Bridge Builders | How We Heal Each Other | Ny Nourn

Filmmaker: Adamu Chan (Director)
Logline: Building bridges of advocacy to end the prison to deportation pipeline for Asian American and Pacific Islanders in California.
Description: Ny Nourn is the Co-Director of the Asian Prisoner Support Committee (APSC), a Bay Area coalition that provides direct support to incarcerated Asian American and Pacific Islanders. Ny works to dismantle the prison to deportation pipeline and bring community members home.

Bridge Builders | Boundless | Jennifer Carreon

Filmmakers: Alex Flores (Director) and Robie Flores (Director)
Logline: Building bridges of advocacy and championing reforms to criminal justice policies in Texas.
Description: Jennifer Carreon, a Chicana from the Laredo, Texas border and Director of the Criminal Justice Project with Texas Appleseed, works to reshape the Texas Criminal Legal system. Rooted in a bottom-up approach to social change, she is a bridge between system impacted communities of color and legislators.

Bridge Builders | Beneath The Surface | Trina Reynolds-Tyler

Filmmaker: Cai Thomas (Director)
Logline: Building bridges of understanding through data science and narrative justice in Chicago.
Description: Trina Reynolds-Tyler is a journalist and a data analyst who leads Beneath the Surface, an investigation into gender based violence buried in police complaints in Chicago. Trina sifts through misconduct data to identify patterns of abuse that are misclassified, present findings to the public, and expand discourse around police misconduct.

Bridge Builders | The Power Of Us | Community Aid Network

Filmmaker: Travis Wood (Director)
Logline: Building bridges of community through mutual aid in South Minneapolis.
Description: Community Aid Network, a Minneapolis-based mutual aid collective formed in August 2020 to address immediate needs of underserved communities suffering from the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and systemic racism; they build bonds between neighbors, organize volunteers, and redistribute resources.