Across the Walls, 2022
high-definition video (black-and-white, sound); 22 min.
Courtesy of Let’s Get Free
Commissioned by Carnegie Museum of Art for the 58th Carnegie International
Filmed and edited by Njaimeh Njie
In their words, Let’s Get Free: The Women and Trans Prisoner Defense Committee (2013–present, Pittsburgh, PA) is “a group working to end Death by Incarceration (life without parole sentencing); build a pathway out of prisons back to communities through commutation reform; support successful possibilities for people formerly and currently incarcerated; and shift to a culture of transformative justice.” Since its founding in 2013, the group has used art as an organizing tool by presenting exhibitions, hosting workshops, and creating film and video pieces that highlight the artistic activities of a growing community and communicates their demands and desires.
For the 58th Carnegie International, the group was commissioned to create a video that could be shared with a wider audience. They collaborated with Pittsburgh-based artist and filmmaker Njaimeh Njie. Titled Across the Walls (2022), the video stages a conversation between Avis Lee and Paulette Carrington, both recently released from life sentences after serving over 40 years, in addition to Betty Heron, Maria Rodriguez, Denise Crump, Brittany Williams, and Kim Joynes, who are all in prison. The additional COVID-19 pandemic restrictions severely limited the ability to engage the currently incarcerated contributors. Comprised of new and existing footage, the film, according to Njie, “assembles a story that speaks to shared space, shared grief, and shared bonds that help these women assert their humanity in an inhumane system. Never straying from the women’s points of view, Across the Walls is a meditation on memory and manifestations for a free future.”
