The Work

Set inside a single room in Folsom Prison, THE WORK follows three men from the outside as they participate in a four-day group therapy retreat with level-four convicts. Over the four days, each man in the room takes his turn at delving deep into his past. The raw and revealing process that the incarcerated men undertake exceeds the expectations of the free men, ripping them out of their comfort zones and forcing them to see themselves and the prisoners in unexpected ways. “The Work” offers a powerful and rare look past the cinder block walls, steel doors and the dehumanizing tropes in our culture to reveal a movement of change and redemption that transcends what we think of as rehabilitation.

On the University of Southern Maine campus in the Gerald E. Talbot Lecture Hall (Luther Bonney Hall, 85 Bedford St.).

Followed by discussion with Steve Spitzer [Jericho Circle Project, founder], Joseph Jackson [Maine Prisoners Advocacy Coalition Co-Coordinator, Maine Inside Out Program Facilitator], Rachel Talbot-Ross [Maine State Legislator, Criminal Justice and Public Safety Commission], Maine Inside Out youth participants . . . others to be announced

This is a free community screening, presented with support from the Sam L. Cohen Foundation, USM Sociology Program, and the USM Women & Gender Studies Program.