PACT Documentary: Self-Empowerment at Green Haven

We are in the process of finishing a documentary film that spotlights the Project for a Calculated Transition, or PACT, which is a self-advocacy and educational organization run entirely by men incarcerated at the Green Haven Correctional Facility in New York. The Green Haven Prison Project and Visual Law Project at Yale Law School have gathered initial footage, and we hope you will support us as we tell the story of this groundbreaking program.

 

Since 1979, Yale Law students have been traveling to Green Haven to participate in a program run by incarcerated men, a program that ultimately became PACT. Alumni, including Senator Cory Booker and Professor James Forman, Jr., say that the lessons they learned from the men in PACT were a turning point in their understanding of criminal justice.

 

The film came about because the PACT men incarcerated at Green Haven asked Yale students to help them document what they were doing from inside prison. While there are many stories of people outside of prison helping those on the inside, the story of PACT is different. PACT is all about people on the inside helping themselves and making a positive impact on the outside community while still incarcerated.

 

We are seeking contributions to take our film across the finish line. We have raised $32,000 as of January 1, 2022, allowing us to hire a director, film editor, and composer who have been editing more than 30 hours of footage we shot before the pandemic. We now are fundraising to complete film production and create a lasting product that we can submit to film festivals and other platforms. To reach our goal, we aim to raise an additional $20,000.