Natural Life - Northside DIY Film Competition Feature

Natural Life - Northside DIY Film Competition Feature

Directed by Tirtza Even

77min/2014/USA/English

Natural Life is a feature length experimental documentary challenging inequities in the U.S. juvenile justice system by depicting, through documentation and reenactment, the stories of five individuals who were sentenced to Life Without Parole (Natural Life) for crimes they committed as youth.

The youthful status and/or lesser culpability of these youths, their background and their potential for rehabilitation, were not taken into account at any point in the charging and sentencing process. The five will never be evaluated for change, difference or growth. They will remain in prison till they die.

The project portrays the ripple-effect that the sentence has had not only on the incarcerated youth and their victims, but also on the community at large.

Q&A with director Tirtza Even