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MR. WASH PRESENTED
BY WETRANSFER

20 min short doc

Story Producer
Editor

Directed by Sean Mattison & Marisa Aveling Prison has a lots of politics. Art was a neutral zone

Sentenced to life in prison for a minor drug offence, Fulton Leroy Washington turned to painting as a means of expressing himself during his 21 years behind bars. Then, thanks to Barack Obama, he was free. This is his story.


Despite the nightmare of his two decades in federal custody – accused of a non-violent drug crime, assured of his innocence and sentenced to die in prison under draconian drugs laws – Wash’s creative skill is the film’s impelling peculiarity. His circumstances are ordinary, his talent is not.
The politics of prison are behind him, but the politics of life as a professional artist are a new hurdle. “I’d love to meet other artists and find out what’s going on out here,” he says. “I’m learning a lot about art politics on a day-to-day basis. This is all new to me.”

Vimeo Staff Pick
Webby Award Winner
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival 2019
Original Thinkers 2019
Flathead Lake International Cinemafest 2019
Picture Farm Film Festival 2019

RESOURCES


The President’s Role in Advancing the Criminal Justice Reform - Barack Obama
American’s With Criminal Records - The Sentencing Project