Launch of the Exile Nation Project

This spring, openDemocracy, The Tedworth Charitable Trust and Exile Nation Media present The Exile Nation Project: An Oral History of the War on Drugs & The American Criminal Justice System. Written, produced and directed by Charles Shaw, The Exile Nation Projectis a documentary archive of interviews and testimonies from criminal offenders, family members and experts revealing the far-ranging consequences of the War on Drugs and the American Criminal Justice System. This captivating oral history puts a human face on the millions of Americans subjugated by the US Government's 40 year, one trillion dollar social catastrophe: The War on Drugs, a failed policy underscoredby fear, politics, racial prejudice and intolerance steeped in a publicattitude of "out of sight, out of mind.”

“Thisfilm captures the chorus of the movement. It's taken a long time to have one documentary explore the history, the critical crisis at present, and unexplored remedies and people in the crossfire created by the war of the drugs. The proper context and result the film teaches is that the drug war is holding back science -- social progress. And peoplethat deserve progress the most, are denied basic human rights. When we do that, collectively via "our" laws -- it is not a benign act. Instead of progress, we got prisons, disease and state control that steadily erodes our constitutional rights.”

~ Nora Callahan, Founder of The November Coalition (november.org)

The feature documentary is part of a larger project that began with Shaw’s publication of his memoir Exile Nation: Drugs, Prisons, Politics and Spirituality, which ran as an exclusive series here on Reality Sandwich throughout 2010.The release of this two-hour feature documentary marks the beginning ofa two year project that includes 100 participants, meant to represent the 1 in 100 Americans that are currently behind bars. The archive will evolve over the span of the project to include the regular release of complete long-form interviews and other short films on the various topics included in this sprawling subject matter.

Like Evolver & Reality Sandwich, and much like the approach Shaw took with his book, The Exile Nation Projectis experimenting with new models of media production & distribution. The entire archive, including the film, will remain free and available to the public on ExileNation.org. The project is non-commercial, not-for-profit, and operates under a Creative Commons license. 

Featured in the documentary: