- Welcome to Independent Lens.
I'm Pete Schwaba, host of PBS Wisconsin's Director's Cut.
It might surprise you to learn
that in the U.S. criminal legal system,
the fast growing prison population are women.
What was even more surprising to me
was that the majority of these women are mothers,
roughly 80%.
Tonight's film, Apart
looks at the harsh drug sentencing
and rising incarceration of women.
Filmed over three-and-a-half years,
Apart follows Amanda, Tomika, and Lydia:
three moms as they try to assimilate
back into their everyday lives
after being incarcerated for several years
for drug offenses.
Aiding these women in this process is Malika Kidd,
founder of Represent Justice,
a group that helps the formerly incarcerated
find employment and housing,
an especially real challenge
when one has a felony on their record.
Throw in the added stress
of trying to re-connect emotionally with their children
and the challenge of trying to stay clean and sober
only spotlights the need for someone like Kidd--
who also is a mother who served time.
Kidd has tireless energy
and as much fight as you can imagine
which is necessary
when you're one woman determined to change the justice system.
Director Jennifer Redfearn said in a recent interview,
that since the beginning of the War on Drugs over 40 years ago,
incarceration for women has risen 800%.
Adding to that staggering fact
is that women typically receive longer sentences
for drug-related charges than men do.
The director received an Oscar nomination
for her previous film Sun Come Up.
Redfearn's work has been called
'beautifully cinematic' and 'intensely human.'
Not a bad way to spend a Monday night
here in Wisconsin.
Apart starts now on PBS Wisconsin,
your home for independent film.