Film Condemning Black Imprisonment Set for Oct. 6

09/29/2015 

Award-winning filmmaker Ira McKinley will share his 2014 personal exploration of the devastating impact of police brutality and mass incarceration on the black community on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at SUNY Cortland.

McKinley, who co-directed "The Throwaways" with Bhawin Suchak, will answer questions after the screening of his 62-minute film beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 106.

The event, which is free and open to the public, continues the College’s yearlong series on “Thinking about War and Peace.”

The documentary follows a theme expressed by Ralph Ellison: “I am an invisible man. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids; and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.”

As told through the eyes of McKinley, a formerly incarcerated activist, the documentary shows — with rawness, urgency and power — the rising national movement to fight against a wave of police killings of black people in America. 

The film has been described as timely and provocative.

“‘The Throwaways’ is more just than an illumination of marginalized people at their weakest moments,” McKinley said. “It is a call to action, a story of directly engaging in the fight for justice.”

“‘The Throwaways’ courageously explores the most pressing racial justice issue of our time: the mass incarceration and racial profiling of poor people of color,” writes Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow.

Winner of the 2014 Best Documentary by Long Beach Indie and the 2014 NY Hi-Light by the Harlem International Film Festival, “The Throwaways” was an Official Selection at the 2013 New Hampshire Film Festival and in 2014 was an Official Selection at the Socially Relevant Film Festival, Roxbury Film Festival, Kingston Film Festival, COMMFest Toronto, Film Columbia, Catskill Mountain Film Fest and the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival.

	Promotional poster for "The Throwaways."

The screening and guest speaker are sponsored by the College’s Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies (CGIS), the Center for Ethics, Peace and Social Justice, the Africana Studies and Philosophy departments, and an Auxiliary Services Corporation grant.

For more information about the film, visit the website http://throwawaysmovie.com. For more information about the series, contact CGIS director Mecke Nagel at 607-753-2013.