TFPF 2009 RECIPIENT
$5,000 for post-production
$1,000 TexFX services
TFPF 2008 RECIPIENT
$2,000 production
AFS Fiscally Sponsored Project
BURNED follows a year in the lives of two boys incarcerated in
Texas' scandal-plagued juvenile justice system. Though his original
sentence was just nine months, Joseph eventually served five years for
molesting a younger sibling. Released at 19, he struggles to adjust to
life in a small Texas town where everyone knows everyone else's
business. Meanwhile, Justin Cannon awaits trial for an escape attempt
made after a prison psychologist told him he would probably spend his
life locked up. Through these tense, personal narratives, BURNED asks
whether the state's juvenile justice system is fulfilling its mission
of rehabilitating young adults, and, if so, why as many as 75% of
incarcerated kids go on to serve prison time as adults.
About the filmmaker:
Emily Pyle
is an investigative journalist with a decade's experience reporting on
social systems in the strange state of Texas. Her 2006 story for the
Texas Observer on a riot at a South Texas youth prison was one of the
first articles circulated statewide about the recent wave of problems
in the state's juvenile justice system.