In 1971, underestimated artist Faith Ringgold made a monumental painting for the women incarcerated at Rikers Island. Fifty years later, artist Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter, who gave birth in prison fifteen years ago, finds herself banding together with an eccentric group of activists, politicians, artists, corrections officers, and Faith Ringgold to free the painting—with the ultimate goal of freeing the women. Paint Me a Road Out of Here is a wild tale of the painting’s whitewashed journey and the two artists who challenge the same powerful, oppressive and persistent institutions a half century apart, through their artwork, voices and shared goals.
Biography:
Catherine Gund is an Emmy-nominated and Oscar-shortlisted producer, director, writer and activist. Her media work focuses on strategic and sustainable social transformation, arts and culture, HIV/AIDS, and racial, reproductive and environmental justice. Her films have screened around the world in festivals, theaters, museums and schools and have appeared on PBS, HBO, Paramount+, the Discovery Channel, Sundance Channel, Free Speech TV, Netflix and Amazon Prime. She won the Gracie Award for Documentary Producer. Her films include Paint Me a Road Out of Here, Meanwhile, Angola Do You Hear Us? Voices from a Plantation Prison, Primera,Aggie, Chavela and Born to Fly. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Tanya Selvaratnam is a writer and an Emmy-nominated and Webby Award-winning filmmaker. She is the senior advisor at the Pop Culture Collaborative and the author of Assume Nothing: A Story of Intimate Violence and The Big Lie. Assume Nothing has been optioned by ABC Signature/Disney Television Studios and is in development as a series by Amazon Studios. Tanya has produced for the Ms. Foundation for Women, Vision & Justice Project, Aubin Pictures, Story Syndicate, Glamour Women of the Year, The Meteor, Joy to the Polls, For Freedoms and Planned Parenthood. Her films have aired on HBO, IFC, PBS and the Sundance Channel, and have premiered at Sundance, Berlin, Tribeca and SXSW.
