The Adachi Project Presents Defender: Off the Record

SCREENING IS AT RUSH!

Followed by a Q&A moderated by Boots Riley!

DEFENDER – an Art+Media project created with the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office– screens 3 new short films about Public Defender Clients: Sal, Prezi and Julia. The screening will also include a preview of a short sentencing mitigation video, used by attorneys in a courtroom to argue for a more lenient sentence.

The films will be preceded by remarks from Mano Raju, the San Francisco Public Defender. After the screening, Boots Riley will moderate a panel discussion with the film’s subjects, filmmakers and Mano Raju.

Defender is created by The Adachi Project, an unprecedented partnership between the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, EVEN/ODD, and Compound, honoring the legacy of the late San Francisco Public Defender, Jeff Adachi. Defender brings to light stories of the people and communities most affected by inequities of the criminal legal system, and aims to promote a culture of reform through the language of art and media.”

‘Off the Record: Sal’ introduces the public to Salesh Prasad through a new lens. We meet a man — a gifted artist, a loving husband, a devoted counselor and advocate — deeply committed to his personal evolution, and to extending his insight to others in service of helping those in challenging circumstances reach their full potential. 

In ‘Off the Record: Prezi’, we meet Charles ‘Prezi’ Gardner in his community of Hunters Point-Bayview. Through scenes of Prezi making music, performing at the Hip Hop in the Park showcase, and watching his son play football, we get to know a devoted dad, active community role model and artist who, after beating homicide charges with the help of Mano and the PDR, discovered a newfound sense of self-worth and responsibility to the people around him through his experience as a father and an artist.

In ‘Off the Record: Julia,’ we meet a woman committed to shaping the world her 13 year old daughter is entering into a better place than the world she inhabited at 13. Julia is a gifted Aztec dancer, a devoted counselor and advocate, and is deeply committed to her personal and spiritual evolution. She uses her lived experience to help lift other young women out of the street economy and reach their full potential.

Learn more here: wearedefender.com