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- Welcome to POV.
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I'm Pete Schwaba, host of PBS
Wisconsin's Director's Cut.
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Tonight, we will learn about the
lives of a mother and son
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who both left legacies
before their untimely deaths.
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The son took his own life after
being wrongfully incarcerated,
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and his mother died shortly
after of a broken heart,
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but not before leaving her
family and the world
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with poetry inspired
by the memory of her son.
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Tonight's documentary,
For Venida, For Kalief
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intertwines spirituality
and activism
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and reimagines the genre of the
criminal justice documentary
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as a poetic collage.
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When Kalief Browder was just 16,
he was incarcerated
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at New York's infamous
Rikers Island jail,
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a place for those awaiting trial
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who typically spend
no more than a year.
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Kalief was held in solitary
confinement for 700 days,
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almost two full years
of his three years at Rikers.
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He was eventually released
without being charged.
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His crime?
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Authorities claimed
he stole a backpack.
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Being accused of a crime
he didn't commit is one thing,
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but during Kalief's time
in jail,
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he experienced beatings at the
hands of guards multiple times,
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with one incident captured
on video.
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He also was beaten
by several inmates.
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Of his time at Rikers,
Kalief says he became scarred
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and was robbed of his happiness.
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During his incarceration,
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he tried to commit suicide
more than once.
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Two years after being released,
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he ended up taking his own life
at the age of 22.
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Such a tragic end
to Kalief's life
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had a profound effect
on his loved ones.
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His mother, Venida,
blamed herself
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because she could not afford
the $900 to post bail
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after Kalief's wrongful arrest.
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His brother, Deion, says Venida
cried herself to sleep
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every night Kalief was in jail.
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While there was temporary joy
when he was released,
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after he took his own life,
Venida's grief never went away.
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To deal with her sadness
and to honor Kalief's memory,
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Venida became an activist,
hoping to prevent other children
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from suffering abuse
by prison guards
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and worked on cash bail reform.
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Venida also found solace
in writing poetry
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to deal with her son's death.
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Venida died of a heart failure
just one year after Kalief.
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For Venida, For Kalief
is directed by Sisa Bueno,
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who makes her feature film
directorial debut.
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Bueno found the project when she
saw Venida speak at an event
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about her son's experiences.
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Luckily,
or due to divine intervention,
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Bueno happened to bring
her camera to the event
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and was able to record Venida.
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The director was moved
by what she heard
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and calls the evening a
serendipitous moment in her life
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because it helped her decide
to make a film.
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The recording is also
the only time she filmed Venida
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before Venida's death.
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Sisa says the moment she heard
about Venida's poetry
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and before she even read
or heard any of the words,
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she could see the film
in her head.
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Bueno uses cinéma vérité
and rare archival imagery
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to provide a picture
to Venida's words
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and help create vivid poetic
interludes to tell her story.
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Summarizing the loss of mother
and son
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within just a year
of each other,
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Kalief's brother Deion says,
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"My mom died trying to preserve
the legacy of her son.
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Keeping kids out of solitary
will preserve hers."
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Just lovely.
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For Venida, For Kalief
starts now on PBS Wisconsin,
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your home for independent film.