At ACT Human Rights Film Fest, ‘How We Get Free’ pushes Coloradans to examine flawed criminal justice system

In The NOCO

The cash bail system continues to face scrutiny in the U.S. Activists say it subverts the long-held American ideal that a person is innocent until proven guilty. In other words, under the cash bail system, if you can’t afford to post bail, you could end up sitting in jail for days, weeks or months waiting for a trial regardless of your innocence.

In Colorado, like other states, people of color are overrepresented in jails and prisons, making this a huge equity issue. State Rep. Elisabeth Epps recently won a seat in the statehouse in part because of her activism on this issue. She has been fighting to reform the justice system and eradicate cash bail in Colorado for several years and the documentary How We Get Free tells that story.

"It is incredibly challenging when you talk about folks who have been incarcerated, or even unjustly incarcerated, to get people to sit up and pay attention,” said co-director Geeta Gandbhir. “But it's just the nature of the way that in our country, folks who are economically more vulnerable have been vilified.”

Ahead of the film’s screening at the ACT Human Rights Film Festival in Fort Collins, In The NoCo’s Erin O’Toole sat down with Gandbhir to learn why she made Epps’ grassroots efforts the subject of her documentary.

How We Get Free screens during the festival's opening night, Wednesday, April 3, at Colorado State University's Lory Student Center theater.