“The end of the sentence is not the end of the  story….”

In the current era of criminal justice reform, The Power of a Pardon examines the pardon and clemency process as it’s currently playing out in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  Award-winning documentary filmmaker Jamila Paksima brings to WNET Up Next a behind the scenes look at the film and her creative  process.

The project is a five-part digital series presented under the umbrella of Chasing the Dream, The WNET Group’s Multiplatform Initiative that explores the human stories of poverty and showcases promising solutions. Each of the five episodes will be posted weekly on pbs.org/chasing_the_dream from September 7th through October 5th; a half-hour version will subsequently air on WORLD Channel.

Pennsylvania’s Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has recently spearheaded the reform of the state’s Pardon Board, including selecting the recently pardoned Brandon Flood as the Board’s Secretary. The series follows the journeys of five reformed and formerly incarcerated individuals as they seek pardons or clemency in order to pursue lives unencumbered by their past records.

In her conversation with host Tom Stewart, Ms. Paksima also reveals how as a young Iranian-American, she was first drawn to broadcast journalism as a viewer of Nightline. In addition to her earlier  work as a producer at NBC News, she has  since produced and directed films for PBS, BBC, VIACOM, MSNBC and BET,  among others. In addition, she has created several previous multiplatform series for The WNET Group, including Getting Off The Streets. She is also host of the audio documentary podcast series, Sounds  Like Hate, currently in production for its third  season. Honored with a Pew Fellowship, she  is the executive producer of Paksima Productions, an independent film and branded content production company headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania.

Recorded: July 13, 2021

Published: August 30, 2021

Audio Engineering – Josh Broome

Host/Producer – Tom Stewart

Executive Producer – Daena McBride

Special thanks: Maria Stoian and Nina Joung of Multiplatform Initiatives; Miriam Fishman – Logo Design.

WNET UP NEXT is a presentation of the Design, On Air Promotion, Fundraising and Traffic Department of The WNET Group.

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