Please join the Filmmakers Legal Clinic, Center for Rights and Justice, and FAME Center for a special screening of For Venida, For Kalief on Thursday, September 24, 2026 at 6PM.

Set against the backdrop of community resistance to mass incarceration and the movement to close the Rikers Island jail complex, For Venida, For Kalief centers the poetry of Venida Brodnax Browder as she grieves the loss of her son, Kalief. Sent to Rikers for allegedly stealing a backpack at age 16, Kalief Browder spent three years on Rikers, two in solitary confinement. He was released when prosecutors dismissed all charges, but the harm he had suffered was irreversible. Two years after his release, at age 22, Kalief died by suicide. Kalief Browder’s lives on through the poetry of his mother, in an unfolding poetic journey revealing how one life can transcend boundaries to ignite change once thought unattainable. 

A project of the Filmmakers Legal Clinic, the film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and is currently streaming on PBS as a featured program of the award-winning POV series.

We'll be joined by filmmaker Sisa Bueno after the screening for a conversation about the legacy of the Kalief Browder story, its impact on criminal justice reforms, and the role of filmmakers in social justice advocacy.

The screening will be held at Cardozo School of Law, Room 1008.

6PM Screening

7:30PM Conversation with filmmaker Sisa Bueno

Beverages and light food will be served.