Dear Friends,
As you all know, “Released To Life” was screened at the Virginia Film Festival in Charlottesville on Nov 6, 2010. I would like to give you a quick update on how it went. Four of us, Erika Rydberg, Greg Upwall, Jason Wilder Evans and myself attended the festival. Before the screening, I was asked to give a brief introduction of the film. Following the screening was a Q&A session with the audience. The audience asked questions about funding for prison education programs, success rate for the people who went through the DC Central Kitchen program, any difference among the prisons in different states, etc. Erika, Greg and Jason did a nice job sharing what we learned from the making of this film and elaborated the messages our film is intended to deliver. It is very gratifying to hear one gentleman from the audience say, “Thank you. You opened my eyes.” After I left the theater, one woman walked up to me and said, “Your film is great.” Our film was in competition for Best Short, but unfortunately we didn’t win. Nevertheless we all feel that it’s a very rewarding experience to see our film being watched by the public audience.
Aside from the film festival, Yavar Moghimi, one of our editors, whose day job is Psychiatrist, took our film to a workshop at the World Association of Social Psychiatry in Morocco at the end of October. There were about two dozen viewers from all over the world, including Netherlands, India, Spain, Austria, US, Japan and Germany. Yavar did a short presentation after the screening on incarceration in the U.S. and issues related to reentry. Overall the feedback was quite positive. Most folks did not know the extent of this problem in the States. Some folks had experiences working in jails in their home countries and they shared the issues they faced. We will continue our effort in bringing the film to more audience. I will certainly keep you posted on any future events. On behalf of our team, I wish you all a great holiday season!
Sincerely, Lily Hua Qin
Producer
Released to Life 