Event

"RIKERS" Screening and Conversation on Mass Incarceration

RIKERS: An American Jail tells the stories of former Rikers Island inmates. Image rikersfilm.org

Thursday, February 1, 2018 - 05:30pm EST (GMT -0500)
Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
1779 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20036
United States
RSVP Today

On Thursday, February 1, 2018, please join the Pulitzer Center and Public Square Media for a screening of “RIKERS: An American Jail” and a conversation on incarceration in the United States and around the globe.

This documentary from veteran journalist Bill Moyers and a team of filmmakers including Judy Doctoroff, Marc LevinMark Benjamin and Rolake Bamgbose focuses on “the deep-seated culture of systemic violence and corruption that has plagued the notorious NYC jail for decades.” These issues are not limited to Rikers, and since its premiere last year, the film has been a catalyst for public discussions across the country of reasons for the high rates of incarceration in America as well as solutions for decarceration. 

In tandem with the screening, Pulitzer Center managing director Nathalie Applewhite leads a conversation on incarceration with Levin, who has decades of experience covering these issues, along with Johnny Perez, one of more than a dozen previously incarcerated individuals interviewed in the film. Levin is an award-winning independent filmmaker and co-founder of Brick City TV who has worked with Moyers over three decades. Perez is currently director of the U.S. prisons program at the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.

The national scope of the impact of incarceration is why the Pulitzer Center is embarking on a three-year journalistic effort to examine issues related to mass incarceration through its World of Difference initiative.

Light reception at 5:30 pm, with program beginning at 6 pm.

About Public Square Media
Under the leadership of founder and president, Judy Doctoroff, Public Square Media creates media and campaigns that amplify the stories of people on the front lines of change and bring attention to the urgent issues of our times. 

About the Pulitzer Center
The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting is an innovative award-winning non-profit journalism organization dedicated to supporting in-depth engagement with underreported global affairs through our sponsorship of quality international journalism across all media platforms and a unique program of outreach and education to schools and universities.