Their task is to create a screenplay that will be produced outside of the prison by their teacher. Written By. Antonio, one of Jarad's inmates, is blindsided by the news that he will be a free man. She weeps as she talks about the harrowing moment in which she thought she was going to die. Watch They Call Us Monsters (2016) full movie online for free Legislators debate legislation that allows for adult charges for juvenile offenders. But the movie benefits from an added layer: A screenwriting teacher who gets to know three teenagers awaiting trial. They Call Us Monsters. [1] The teenagers participate in a screenwriting class at Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles, California with producer Gabriel Cowan. Antonio Hernandez is known for Los (2015) and They Call Us Monsters (2016). To their victims, theyre monsters. Do they deserve a second chance? Our independent journalism on the juvenile justice system takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. One week they would open up and trust me, and another week they would be joking around and sort of making me the villain., Cowan gave the teensliberty to choose what they wanted their film to be about. Weve posted their answers below, and also included the original letters if youd like to see an authentically handwritten response. I want the film to reach those legislative buildings, those communities, to start a conversation around this population and how it should be treated.. This is precisely the case of the three main subjects of Lears documentary. All three are looking at terms that could keep them behind bars for decades. Do they deserve a second chance? In other words, Lear does not gloss over what Jarad actually did to end up at Sylmar, yet the film questions both his draconian punishment and the way the system continually punishes low-income, mostly African-American and Latinx kids with lengthy sentences, regardless of the fact that, as adolescents, they have no ability to see beyond the orbit of their own experience. Juan, Jarad and Antonio, all young teens, face decades in prison. ", "THEY CALL US MONSTERS Premieres on PBS' Independent Lens 5/22", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=They_Call_Us_Monsters&oldid=1108017152, This page was last edited on 2 September 2022, at 03:33. University of Redlands Emergency Alert System, Alert Received: . Find out where to watch online amongst 45+ services including Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video. Arrested at 16, Jarad faces 200 years-to-life for four attempted murders; Juan, also arrested at 16, faces 90-to-life for first-degree murder; Antonio was arrested at 14 and faces 90-to-life for two attempted murders. But we believe its crucial and we think you agree. What is going on in these cities that so many young teens are being charged for gang-related murders? But we did hear back from Juan Gamez and Jarad Nava, both of whom are currently serving life sentences. These people have to do their time. We thought that was funny. Supporters of that measure cited. UPDATE 6/29/2017:They Call Us Monsters isnow streamingon Netflix. I appreciated that the consequences of such serious crimes were not swept under the rug: a victim of one of the shootings shares her story, and a large part of the film follows the struggles of the prisoners families. And in 2016, state voters approved a ballot measure that takes the decision on whether a teen should stand trial as an adult away from prosecutors and puts it in the hands of a juvenile court judge. Juan says, I really was a monster, and the film includes surveillance video of the killing that put him behind bars. with lengthy sentences, regardless of the fact that, as adolescents, they have no ability to see beyond the orbit of their own experience. You have to love it out of them, Cowan says. There are many that we will not be able to save. They Call Us Monsters. [1] The teenagers participate in a screenwriting class at Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles, California with producer Gabriel Cowan. original sound - . Antonio Hernandez (@antoniohernandez5046)s videos with sonido original - Antonio Hernandez | TikTok. Mothers staying home to care for their children. When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted. Im guessing people probably think were still in the same mindset, and doing the same stuff. 2023 University of Redlands. In the past few years, however, officials in many states and in Washington, D.C., have been rethinking the clampdown. Im They Call Us Monsters is a 2016 American documentary directed and produced by Ben Lear. Obviously, there are no easy answers. Built with the Largo WordPress Theme from the Institute for Nonprofit News. Thats why you need programs like InsideOUT and college., In the fifth writing class, Cowan introduces the topic of character motivation, telling the kids that conflict and fear are essential in driving plot. 2023 Independent Television Service (ITVS). Juan and Jarad were 16 when they were arrested; Antonio was 14. All Rights Reserved. Help bring programs like Independent Lens to your PBS station. As Lear describes it, nothing could have prepared him for what he encountered once he walked into the prison: this was a classroom full of kids these were teenagers that are so obviously that age. Cowan says that getting the teens to open up to him was a long and sometimes difficult process. Preview EXPLORE THE FILM About the Documentary They. As They Call Us Monsters hopes to broaden the conversation on juvenile offenders, here are five eye-opening facts we learned from watching Lears documentary. Through their introspection and self-discovery, I felt an overwhelming sense of aspiration for these young people, despite their circumstances. Theres not only capacity for change, theres also that oft-forgotten glimmer of a thing called hope. For his senior recital, Lear wrote and performed his folk-opera Lillian (about a man who travels to the great Pacific garbage patch to reclaim all hes lost) with a 20-piece orchestra and light show. Ben Lear makes his directorial debut with "They Call Us Monsters," a searing but sensitive documentary following the experiences of juvenile offenders through the justice system.His father, Norman, used the form of the sitcom to hold a mirror up to American culture, but Ben takes a more direct approach with his non-fiction work, and the intuitive observation displayed in this film shows . Antonio: Fear of trust, fear of being alone, fear of public speaking, and fear of vulnerability,, Juan: Death, loneliness, darkness, and love. Review: They Call Us Monsters, but Do We Deserve Life Sentences? As any parent, teacher or person who has worked with teens will tell you, teenagers are impulsive. Grappling with tough questions about what it means to convict a young teenager to a lifetime in prison without diminishing or excusing the violent crimes which these kids are accused of, They Call Us Monsters is a loud plea for our need to rethink how we understand the American justice system. Toward the end of "They Call Us Monsters," Antonio has been released. You can write a science fiction, you can write an animated film, you can write about ninjas, whatever you want.. 88 Likes, TikTok video from Elena2widdit (@elena2widdit): "#theycallusthemonsters #stevenfernandez #TurboTaxAndRelax #fyp". By what name was They Call Us Monsters (2016) officially released in Canada in English? If they hadnt wanted to write a love story, there wouldnt be this film, but they decided to write a film, their film, about a young boy falling in love, when they could have written about violence or gangs. (SB 260 calls this diminished culpability.). Advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. As the screenwriting classes progress, Jarad, Anthony, and Juan become close, and they develop a bond with the screenwriting teacher. Without affect, the girl asks if hes in a detention center. Juan and Jarad were 16 when they were arrested; Antonio was 14. TikTok video from Antonio Hernandez (@antoniohernandez517). We see excerpts from the result. These are perfect examples of the way the justice system has decided to treat young men who commit violent crimes as adults. You see this same willful blindness in the PBS documentary They Call Us Monsters. As Newt Gingrich says in a news clip at the start of Lears film, There are no violent offenses that are juvenile; you rape somebody, youre an adult; you shoot somebody, youre an adult.. Juan Gamez, Antonio Hernandez and Jarad Nava are the youthful offenders at the heart of They Call Us Monsters, a new documentary that follows their lives in a Los Angeles juvenile detention center. I appreciate the support and open-mindedness.. To their victims, they're monsters. Eventually, police were able to identify the suspect as 19-year-old Antonio Hernandez. Emily Jordan is a YA writer living in New York City. Little Hope Was Arson: A Letter from a Texas Jail, Ben Lear Shows Reality and Human Face of Juvenile Justice System. The finished film, Los, can be viewed at http://insideoutwriters.org. They Call Us Monsters . They Call Us Monsters is a 2016 American documentary directed and produced by Ben Lear. Ben Lear. being generous here 7 million pit bulls and Rottweilers and other dangerous breeds. To pass the time, they sign up for a screenwriting class and collaborate on a short film about their lives, including Juan's unrequited love for his childhood friend, Abigail. They have to pay for what they did, Lear said. The short film, LOS, was written by Juan Gamez, Jarad Nava and Antonio Hernandez. He wrote that he is grateful so many people have embrace[d] our story and join the prison reform movement. While in prison, he is going to college fulltime and making strong grades. For more information, visit: Other stories Id like to tell I look around at the people around me and I see great stories of personal achievementsor overcoming struggles. All rights reserved. They seem like typical American teenagers if they . Antonio Hernndez, director de "Capitn Trueno y El Santo Grial", recibe el Premio Applehead Sah-Di-A 2023 y nos enva un saludo. sonido original - Antonio Hernnde4490. SD. In California, the parole bill featured in Monsters ultimately passed in 2013. All three lads are aged 14 to 16 and are filmed living in Californian . The juvenile justice system was created to rehabilitate, not to be punitive but it became a punitive system where the kids are getting punished for their trauma.. Want to know more about this blog or how to get into contact with us? To others, they're monsters Juan, Jarad and Antonio, all young teens, face decades in prison. Also, the story of my family, [e]specially my moms.. Juan, Jarad and Antonio, all between 14 and 16, face decades in prison. Make sure to cite all the sources properly and rewrite direct quotations in your own words to decrease the level of plagiarism in your paper. Help bring programs like Independent Lens to your PBS station. "Juan Gamez, Antonio Hernandez and Jara Nava are the youthful offenders at the heart ofa new documentary that follows their lives in a Los Angeles juvenile detention . , Scott Budnick (The Hangover) who executive produced the They Call Us Monsters as a labor of love. Dont loose HOPE and have FAITH, I agree with you 100% Patty. The protagonist of Los emanates vulnerability where the boys act tough and make jokes as a form of self-protection. Are our past actions a direct reflection of our character? This offers a clear path for states around the country to see what this type of reform can look like. They Call US Monsters Where Are They Now? Halfway through the class, Antonio returns to juvenile court and is released with time served but, back in the neighborhood, quickly falls into the same patterns of drug use and gang life that led to his incarceration in the first place. Is there anything else youd want to tell the movies audience about yourself that they may not know? After passing SB 260, California also passed SB 261 in 2015, a law that raised the age of SB 260 to 22-years old, affecting an additional 16,000 inmates. This reality recalls a moment from the beginning of the film when the boys are taking Cowan on a tour of the facilities at Sylmar, clean but stark if decorated with names of NFL teams. Are we entirely the result of our environment? I really was." The remark encapsulated the feeling I was left with after observing the film. All three are looking at terms that could keep them behind bars for decades. Maybe it takes 15 years. Copyright 2023 Salon.com, LLC. Juan tells Cowan and his classmates how he was going to give the real Abby a poem but he never got the chance. The plot emerged when the teens were talking about their fears. [Antonio was advised by his lawyer to decline a follow-up interview.] They Call Us Monsters. Also, people who have done enough time in prison age out of violent crime in their thirties and forties. Cast Jarad Nava , Juan Gamez , Antonio Hernandez | See Full Cast You can see them hugging, you can see they felt a lot of success together, they went through a real experience together.. Who Creates the Dragons Brave Knights must Slay? Antonio could care less. You can look at that and say, OK, theyre obviously sociopaths. But what I would encourage people to do is peel a layer off, go a little bit deeper and entertain the idea that maybe theyre temporarily sociopaths, Lear said. The prison has a channel in which they play some of the new movies coming outso we watch about everything and anything that tells a good story. But by the end of the 10 weeks, Cowan says, they were all friends. Im two semesters away from obtaining an AA in Business & Technology. To the system, theyre adults. 7 talking about this. Juan Gamez, Antonio Hernandez and Jarad Nava are the youthful offenders at the heart of "They Call Us Monsters," a new documentary that follows their lives in a Los Angeles juvenile detention center. , would allow juveniles to become eligible for parole earlier in their sentencing, after serving at least 15 years. The prisoners are not made out to be innocent victims of the prison system; it was made clear that they committed serious crimes and are dealing with the repercussions. [Antonio was advised by his lawyer to decline a follow-up interview.]. He was booked on . Stars: Nora Kirkpatrick, Nate Corddry, Ernesto Hernndez, Allegra Acosta, Joel Anderson, Richard Bloom, Steven Fernandez, Ernesto Hernandez, Scott Budnick, Mike Camacho, Antonia Casas R, Yesenia Castro, Gabriel Cowan, Darrell J Edwards Jr, Darrell J Edwards Sr, Juan Gamez, Kath I saw the kids facing life and it broke my heart and changed my life, Budnick tells me over the phone. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to watch the film, as it provided me insight into the lives of an often-forgotten part of the population, educated me on the debate, about juvenile justice reform, and left me with a hunger to learn more. The documentary features three juvenile offenders: Juan Gamez, Antonio Hernandez, and Jarad Nava. Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Wendy C. Woolcock, the Special Agent in Charge of the Special Operations Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA"), announced today that JUAN ANTONIO HERNNDEZ ALVARADO, a/k/a "Tony Hernndez" ("HERNNDEZ") was sentenced to life in prison for cocaine-importation, weapons, and . They Call Us Monsters, directed by Ben Lear (Norman Lears son), might seem like a straightforward advocacy documentary. Anyone can read what you share. whose mission is both to use creative writing as a catalyst for personal transformation and to reduce the juvenile recidivism rate by providing services for formerly incarcerated youth. TikTok video from antonio hernandez (@antonio_hernandezzz): "#fyp #foryou #foryoupage #trending #viral #foru #fyp". 1.7K Likes, TikTok video from antonio hernandez (@antonio_hernandezzz): "#fyp #foryou #foryoupage #trending #viral #foru #fyp". As prison reform continues to be a hot topic of conversation, Ben Lears They Call Us Monsters hopes to give voice to those inside the Compound. To others, they're monsters. However we have to give them the opportunity to change the monster in them by teaching them that there is good in every bad situation. At times Jarad, who faces 200 years for four attempted murders, demonstrates an almost dissociative denial that borders on sociopathic. I hope all works out for these fellas & every young person that happens to take the wrong or see the something that damages them, Our XML site map https://jjie.org/sitemap.xml, JJIE is published by the Center for Sustainable Journalism at Kennesaw State University. Watching this documentary would lead one to realize that the society plays an important role in the prevention of juvenile delinquency. Download a copy of Jarad Navas complete handwritten letter. From the film, I learned many juveniles convicted of serious crimes are tried as adults and kept in a separate compound. A scene in which Juan calls a girl he had a crush on, while a listening staff member roots for him, provides the films most oddly affecting moment. come up for parole in 20-25 years, instead of the 80 or 90 years he would have had with a 160-year sentence. While the gravity of their crimes is great, these young men are still simply teenagers. As a 16-year-old boy facing 90 years to life for first-degree murder, he seems to float somewhere above or below this fact, as do Antonio Hernandez and Jarad Nava, the other teenage boys awaiting similar sentences in Ben Lears moving documentary, They Call Us Monsters, a film that connects a 20-week screenwriting class inside Sylmar, a segregated unit for juveniles being tried as adults, with the passing of SB 260, legislation that grants youth serving life sentences the possibility of parole. What is the value of a life? Juan, who joined a gang before his 13th birthday as a way to gain respect, and who has been charged with fatally shooting a man three times at point blank range and says, "I really was a monster. I have to admit that it was weird to see myself from an outside perspective. "They Call Us Monsters," created by Ben Lear son of Norman Lear, features Pomona resident Jarad Nava and two other teens at Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar and raises the question. Another leads you on a mocking tour of his new home. His story became one of the main themes in their film. By 2010, about. He approached fellow InsideOUT board member and founder of. Lear was available for questions after the showing at Redlands. "They Call Us Monsters," directed by Ben Lear (Norman Lear's son), might seem like a straightforward advocacy documentary. Prior to his imprisonment, Antonio was an honor roll student and he seemed like the perfect student up until his arrest. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. 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