From the Michigan History Center -

Award-winning documentary film, The Sentence, returns to Lansing on Sunday, Mar. 3

Free screening and discussion at the Michigan History Center at 1 p.m.

Movie poster for The Sentence featuring Cindy Shank and her three daughters.

The Sentence explores the devastating consequences of mass incarceration and mandatory minimum drug sentencing through the story of Cindy Shank, a mother of three young children serving a 15-year sentence in federal prison for her tangential involvement in a Michigan drug ring years before. A lyrical, intimate story documented over 10 years by Cindy's younger brother, filmmaker Rudy Valdez, The Sentence follows Cindy’s struggles to be present in her children's lives from behind bars and her daughters' experiences growing up without their mother at home, while her husband, parents and siblings fight for her release before the last months of the Obama administration's Clemency Project.

The film premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the U.S. Documentary Audience Award. In the year since its debut, it has been released in theaters nationally, screened for members of Congress on Capitol Hill and aired on HBO and covered in major newspapers, magazines and on major television and radio networks.

On Sunday, March 3, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Rudy and Cindy, both Lansing-area natives, will host a special screening of the film at the Michigan History Center. After the screening, they will lead a question and answer session about the core issues addressed in the film, including mandatory minimum sentences for drug-related crimes and the impact incarceration has on families and communities.

The program, presented free of charge, is part of a series on incarceration in Michigan and the United States, held in conjunction with the Michigan History Museum’s special exhibition, States of Incarceration: A National Dialogue on Local Histories. The event is co-sponsored by the Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lansing.

Doors open at noon for light refreshments and viewing of the States of Incarceration exhibit. The film screening begins at 1 p.m.

Seating is limited for this special program, and pre-registration is required.Registration for this program is available online at http://bit.ly/TheSentenceMHC or by phone at 517-241-1442.

This free event is made possible in part by a grant from the Michigan Humanities Council.