Doc reveals challenges of life after wrongful imprisonment and exoneration
Director: Jessica Sanders
Cinematography: Shana Hagan, Buddy Squires
Studio info: New Yorker Films, 95 minutes
Justice is reevaluated in After Innocence, which follows exonerees cleared of their crimes by DNA evidence after serving decades in prison. Once cleared, they must adjust to life on the outside, often without the assistance afforded prisoners released after serving a full sentence. Their reactions are varied and fascinating: one man speaks of the importance of forgiveness; others seem paralyzed by their bitterness. Yet all are single-minded in their desire to reform America’s justice system. Given After Innocence’s terrifying notion of paying for someone else’s crime with your life, the urgency of their goal is all-too-real.