Presented at AIFF 2019

90 min | Switzerland/USA | 2018 | BOSTON PREMIERE

Synopsis: Anne-Frédérique Widmann is a Swiss investigative reporter and documentary filmmaker. Formerly, she was U.S. correspondent for European media, co-editor-in-chief, anchor of the current affairs documentary program Temps Présent and head of the investigative team of the French Swiss National Television and Radio RTS. With New-York Times editorial cartoonist Chappatte, she co-founded the art & documentation project, Windows on Death Row. FREE MEN is a portrait of two innocent African Americans who spent most of their lives behind bars in complete isolation, on death row. One of them, Ndume was freed in 2012. He is now supporting his fellow friend, Kenneth, who is still incarcerated and fighting for justice. Despite the inhuman conditions they have endured, what has kept them both alive is art, love, and an impressive resilience. In these moments of racial tensions outside and in the U.S., FREE MEN show how people can resist social and racial prejudices by finding inner resources and personal strength to move forward... a universal lesson of hope and humility.

Awards: Geneva Int’l Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights Champ-Dollon Jury Prison Award; Int’l Film Festival of Algiers Jury Award.