Documentary Description

Veronica Flournoy, Ray Diaz and Jasper Kelly are three of the 600,000 men and women who are released from prison each year. Each of them is on parole in New York City, and only a missed curfew or a dirty urine test away from landing back in a cell. None of them have lived a tranquil, stable life before prison, and they are not returning to a structured world set to propel them into constructive citizenship. Two of the three are addicted to cocaine. Two of them don’t even have homes to return to – and the other only has a home because of his girlfriend. These are once volatile lives interrupted by a bid in prison. Now they are back on the streets, where that volatility is institutionalized through parole and homelessness.

Veronica is nervous to visit her daughters. Ray knows that not everyone wants him in the house.  Jasper wants to go by a different name. GETTING OUT follows their first hours, days, weeks, and months as they look for jobs, take a driving exam and teach their kids to obey rules.  

Former prisoners find themselves barred from attaining self-sufficiency and self-esteem when they are released. The reentry challenges they face also affect their families, their communities, and our society.  In GETTING OUT, we meet the people who were waiting for our three former prisoners, the people who never wanted to see them again, and the people who set their curfews. 

The strain on the children and the rest of the family is incalculable when a parent is incarcerated. Most of the mothers in prison are single mothers. Many, like Veronica, had their babies while incarcerated.   Grandmothers assume responsibility for taking care of most of the children of incarcerated mothers.  We are with Veronica as she learns how to raise her children and let her mother just be a grandmother again.

Most former prisoners end up back in prison. Ray fits the average profile: drug problems, homeless, and practically no support.  We see what he does and how his family responds when he has nowhere to turn.

In a “tough on crime” environment, we have virtually destroyed the one thing we know works.  Jasper tried to get an education while he was inside, but the program ended prematurely. We watch Jasper transform, incrementally, sometimes uncomfortably, from street thug to citizen – even achieving some measure of success as an artist and producer along the way.

GETTING OUT has humanized a segment of the population that is arguably one of the most beleaguered of all – convicted felons. It’s a phrase that evokes little sympathy, yet this film leaves viewers challenging every presumption they’ve ever brought to it. Each of these characters wants what we all want – stability, love, opportunity…fairness. Through the choices the characters make, the hardships they face, and the support they do or do not have, GETTING OUT offers three perspectives of regaining freedom after paying for it.