Robinson Film Center will host a screening of the 2021 Oscar-nominated documentary ‘Time’, featuring a live Q&A and book signing with the subjects of the film, Fox and Rob Richardson on February 12th at 1pm, as part of its Black History Month programming. The Shreveport screening will be part of a 3 city Louisiana tour for the couple, who are also releasing a book this month through the Baker Publishing Group.
Media Release from the St. Charles Center for Faith Plus Action:
Time: Families, Faith, and Fairness in Sentencing
The St. Charles Center for Faith Plus Action and Foundation for Louisiana are excited to announce its sponsorship of a 3-city tour of Time, an Academy Award nominated full-length documentary, tells the story of Fox and Rob Rich’s relentless fight for each other and justice, despite America’s broken prison system. As Rob survived two decades at America’s bloodiest penitentiary and Fox raised their sons solo, they never stopped fighting for Rob’s freedom and for their futures against the statistical odds. This program comes in anticipation of the release of Time 2023, the literary companion to the film.
Despite its worldwide acclaim and due to COVID, Time has never premiered in Louisiana. Through this thoughtfully designed 3-city tour, the viewing of the film will be combined with a panel discussion and Q & A with the film’s subjects and authors of Time 2023. Fox and Rob Rich will take participants into a deeper discussion of how faith, strength and community organizing not only brought Rob home, but has served to free countless others. And their fight continues.
This work will be held as part of the community engagement, narrative change, activation, and education of participants in the Center's programming to mobilize people of faith/conscience to come alongside the work of those most impacted by harms of the criminal legal system and builds necessary allyship to expand community working to address the harms of the criminal legal system.
The film showings begin in New Orleans, February 7, 2023, Shreveport on February 12, and followed by Baton Rouge on February 28. The significance of these cities goes beyond the geographic coverage of the state by beginning at the entry point for slavery in Louisiana – and the country – of New Orleans and ending in Shreveport, the last stand of the Confederacy in the Civil War. Baton Rouge provides a focus on the heart of legislative power for the state.
This partnership integrates into The Center’s arts-as education-and-activation programming. Louisiana is the epicenter for mass incarceration. The mass incarceration system financially and socially destabilizes many families of color and reduces economic means with multi-generational effects. Amplifying the voices and experiences of people directly impacted by the system - most of whom are black, brown, and poor - through productions like Time fuels the fire for change, bridging a gap between experience and understanding.
Participants who attend experience a transition from separateness to solidarity, enabling them to engage in collective action. Communities of faith and conscience are in a particularly strong position to help change the moral framework through which our citizens and communities view incarceration. The deepening of community working to be restorative problem solvers means a thriving New Orleans for all who live here.
Time amplifies the multitude of problems undergirding the criminal legal system, the sentencing laws, and harms within carceral institutions while highlighting the strength of black families through this powerful story of fortitude, faith and love.
Mission Statement of The St. Charles Center for Faith Plus Action
Focusing on racial justice and systemic issues within the criminal legal system, The St. Charles Center for Faith + Action ("The Center") builds a broader, more diverse community of people working actively to make a just and equitable New Orleans - and beyond. We tap the wellspring of energy of people of faith/conscience through immersive art events focused on the realities of the criminal legal system, retreats, seminars, and opportunities for spiritual growth.
With a grassroots community campaign focused on people of faith and people of conscious, we bring people together for experiences that drive them to amplify their engagement in building a stronger, more thriving New Orleans, through restorative justice lens to address the harms of the criminal legal system. Working at the intersection of sacred story and social justice action, The Center convenes faith leaders, community members, and experts to foster action and partnerships based on shared understandings and experiences leading to personal growth, public advocacy, and service to the community.
Co-sponsors include:
· Foundation for Louisiana
· The St. Charles Center for Faith + Action
· The Contemporary Arts Center
· Robinson Film Center
· Advancement Project
· Watson Memorial Teaching Ministries
· Equal Justice USA
· Baker Publishing
· National Council of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women
For media inquiries, please contact Caroline Durham at (504) 729-8189 or CDurham@StCharlesAve.Center
Robinson Film Center, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit arts organization based in Shreveport, educates, enriches and entertains through the power of film. RFC exhibits independent, international and classic cinema daily in two movie theaters, with a full-service bistro and special events space upstairs. RFC provides film history and media literacy classes for all ages, focusing strongly on K-12 students and senior citizens. RFC also supports outreach programs that promote and strengthen the state’s film industry.