It's Criminal

It's Criminal (2017) is a documentary that was directed by Signe Taylor. The cinematographer was Charlene Music.

The movie presents the work of Pati Hernandez. Ms. Hernandez is the founder of the non-profit organization Telling My Story. She's also an Adjunct Professor at Dartmouth College. Hernandez has developed a program, along with Dr. Ivy Schweitzer, that brings Dartmouth students into a women's prison to work on developing a theater performance.

Of course, the contrast between the Dartmouth students and the women in prison is immense. Dartmouth is an elite college. The women students are attractive and well groomed. Even students that aren't truly wealthy are acquiring the skills that will allow them to succeed professional, financially, and personally.

As the students and prisoners work together on the performance, they get to know each other, and some of them start bonding. However, many of the prisoners have social and emotional problems that are deep and disturbing.

Also, disturbing, of course, is the injustice of the criminal system itself, which is weighted against the poor and powerless. During the filming, some Dartmouth students were caught dealing drugs. Because of who they were, and what they were, they basically received slaps on the wrist. The prisoners, because of who they were, and what they were, received handcuffs on the wrist.

Pati Hernandez is the key person in the course and in the movie. She has an uncanny knack to work with people in both worlds--the elite college and the prison. In fact, because of her work, the two worlds start to move a little closer.

Cinematographer Charlene Music is an experienced and award-winning professional. During the Q&A, director Taylor told us that Ms. Music spent the entire day in the jail working with--and filming--the prisoners. In fact, she would have stayed overnight if the rules had permitted it. Her skill and dedication are evident throughout the film.

We saw this interesting movie in Rochester's excellent Little Theatre. It was shown as part of the High Falls Film Festival--Celebrating Women in Film. The High Falls Film Festival excels at bringing filmmakers to the festival for Q&A. Not only did director Taylor attend, but also two of the women we had seen as prisoners. It was wonderful to listen to the two women. Basically they are on the road to success. They plan to start more programs like the one at Dartmouth. As they said, the world needs more people like Pati. The world really does need more people like Pati, and also like them.

This documentary is a powerful experience that enables you to confront abstract issues such as privilege, poverty, and the criminal justice system face-to-face, in flesh and blood, and through person-to-person encounters. A small class of Dartmouth students are brought to a small county jail where they are teamed up with a group of female inmates to produce a theater production about the experiences of the incarcerated women. Of course, it becomes a journey of exploration and interaction between real people who learn about what they have in common despite their differences in circumstance. The NH Bar Foundation where I work helped fund this production so I am a bit biased, but I found it really absorbing and thought-provoking. I look forward to meeting some of the people involved in the production at screenings planned in New Hampshire in the fall of 2018.