The Next Act is Freedom

The story

Pentimenti is excited to announce the streaming premiere of The Next Act Is Freedom, a film created by our “Making the Short Doc” class at the Hyde Park Art Center. The film debuted as part of HPAC’s MLK Day 2026: Chaos or Community programming, and was followed by a discussion featuring the filmmakers and participants. The Next Act Is Freedom is a document of the Resilience Arts Festival in October 2025 — a first-of-its-kind convening of artists impacted by the criminal legal system, presented by Mud Theatre Project and the Chicago Torture Justice Center. Exploring themes of healing and re-entry, the film presents four days of performance and poetry, as well as conversations with police torture survivors, currently incarcerated writers, and abolitionist advocates. Filmmakers: Mariam Aejaz, Mary Huber, Sumiah Salloum, Toni Smalls, Drew Smalls-Verneau