Friday, February 22, 2008  10:10am - 12:10am

Room S2-3

LAW & SOCIETY FILM FESTIVAL

Moderator: Lisa Handler, Ph.D., Asst. Professor and Dena Sukol, Esq., Visiting Lecturer

THE CHILDREN’S MARCH. It was 1963 and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was attempting to end segregation in the city of Birmingham, Alabama, but the African American adults knew that if they took part in any demonstrations, they would lose their jobs. King was unable to get anyone to march with him until……………..This film tells the story of how the young people of Birmingham, Alabama braved fire hoses and police dogs in 1963 and brought segregation to its knees. 

Tuesday, February 26, 2008, 11 AM - 12:20 Noon

Room S2-3

LAW & SOCIETY FILM FESTIVAL

Moderators: Lisa Handler, Ph.D., Asst. Professor and Dena Sukol, Esq., Visiting Lecturer

TROOP 1500 is a film about a very special Girl Scout troop that brings mothers who are serving time for serious crimes together with their daughters on the outside. Facing long sentences from the courts, the mothers struggle to mend their fractured relationships with their daughters. The film follows five young girls whose mothers are serving time at Hilltop Prison in Gatesville, Texas. The filmmakers trained the girls in videography so that they could conduct their own interviews and tell their own stories -- asking hard questions and getting tough answers. A sobering but hopeful look at the struggles faced by the more than 2 million American children who have a parent behind bars.

Wednesday, February 27, 2007, 11:15AM-1:15PM

Room S2-3

LAW & SOCIETY FILM FESTIVAL

Moderator: Lisa Handler, Ph.D., Asst. Professor and Dena Sukol, Esq., Visiting Lecturer

RACE TO EXECUTION Race discrimination infects America’s capital punishment system. According to a landmark study regarding race and the death penalty, an African American defendant who kills a white victim is up to 30 times more likely to be sentenced to death than a white defendant who kills an African American victim. The film traces the fates of two death row inmates, in Russell County, Alabama and Chicago, Illinois. Their compelling personal stories are enlarged and enriched by attorneys who fought for these men’s lives, and by prosecutors, criminal justice scholars and experts in the fields of law and the media.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008, 9 AM - 11 AM (WERC Campus) -

LAW & SOCIETY FILM FESTIVAL

Moderator: Jane Jacobs, Esq.

"RACE: THE POWER OF AN ILLUSION" Race is one subject where we all think we're experts. Whether or not we believe the stereotypes, we can all name them. And yet, what do we really know? The idea that race isn't biological goes against one of our most fundamental assumptions: that there are meaningful, natural divisions between groups of people. Certainly people look different, but as it turns out, appearances can be deceiving.

Thursday, February 28, 2007, 2 PM - 4 PM

Room S2-3

LAW & SOCIETY FILM FESTIVAL

Moderator: Dena Sukol, Esq., Visiting Lecturer

SISTERS IN LAW In the little town of Kumba, Cameroon, there have been no convictions in spousal abuse cases for 17 years. But two women determined to change their community are making progress that could change the world. This fascinating, often hilarious doc follows the work of State Prosecutor Vera Ngassa and Court President Beatrice Ntuba as they help women fight often-difficult cases of abuse, despite pressures from family and their community to remain silent. With fierce compassion, the two feisty and progressive-minded women dispense wisdom, wisecracks and justice in fair measure, handing down stiff sentences to those convicted. Winner of the Prix Art et Essai at the Cannes Film Festival and screened to acclaim at more than 120 festivals around the world. A cross between “Judge Judy” and “The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency,” SISTERS IN LAW has audiences cheering when justice is served.