“I’ve had dreams of getting out of prison—and I was dancing my way out.”
– Herman Wallace
Herman Wallace is speaking from Louisiana’s Angola jail, where he’s been kept in solitary confinement for over 40 years. The phone line might be staticky, but his voice is unbroken.
The Deeper They Bury Me: A Call from Herman Wallace is an interactive encounter with one of America’s most famous political prisoners—and an indictment of a criminal justice system that confined him to a cement tomb for most of his adult life.
I was the Associate Producer on this web-based interactive documentary. The project premiered at the New York Film Festival with a performance from Malik Yoba and an appearance from Harry Belafonte, and was also shown at the Festival du nouveau cinéma in Montreal with a performance from Nahka Bertrand.
It was nominated for awards from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, Digi Awards, Future of Storytelling, the Webbys, and FWA.