No standing ovation at the Cannes or Sundance film festivals could match the unique emotional intensity of one delivered to a filmmaker named B. Raheem Ballard on Thursday afternoon inside a stuffy chapel at San Quentin.
That morning, Ballard, who has been incarcerated for 22 years, missed the world premiere of a film he directed, Dying Alone, and the follow-up Q&a with comedian W. Kamau Bell, because the event conflicted with his parole board hearing.
“Quick update,” said one of the festival’s two emcees, Juan Moreno Haines, interrupting the afternoon awards ceremony. “Raheem was found suitable.” Ballard, who had been sentenced to be in prison until 2039, had just learned that he would soon be released, and he walked, blinking, into a roaring crowd in the chapel. “I’m overwhelmed,” he said. Moments later, Ballard’s movie won a prize from the International Documentary Association, but he had left to call...
That morning, Ballard, who has been incarcerated for 22 years, missed the world premiere of a film he directed, Dying Alone, and the follow-up Q&a with comedian W. Kamau Bell, because the event conflicted with his parole board hearing.
“Quick update,” said one of the festival’s two emcees, Juan Moreno Haines, interrupting the afternoon awards ceremony. “Raheem was found suitable.” Ballard, who had been sentenced to be in prison until 2039, had just learned that he would soon be released, and he walked, blinking, into a roaring crowd in the chapel. “I’m overwhelmed,” he said. Moments later, Ballard’s movie won a prize from the International Documentary Association, but he had left to call...
- 10/11/2024
- by Rebecca Keegan
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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