Screenings roll out nationally in 2026. More dates and locations coming soon. Contact us to bring Redemption Time to your community.
Redemption Time centers on two artists who emerged from incarceration to become powerful voices for change. The film confronts injustice while lifting up human dignity, creative resilience, and personal healing. Through an intimate blend of artistic forms and storytelling, the work explores universal tensions — belonging and isolation, judgment and dignity, harm and healing — while inviting viewers to look beyond labels and consider what it means to be human, to belong, and to begin again.
“Redemption Time transcends dualities… It’s a profound invitation into the deepest truths of our shared humanity.”
— Dr. Peter Candler, Author
Trinity United Methodist Church- (Public) Community partners: Deep Time, 12 Baskets, Asheville Poverty Initiative, Reentry Council, UNC Asheville Prison Education program.
Screenings and facilitated discussions inside the jail for incarcerated residents, alongside correctional officers and select community leaders and college students: February 12, 13, and March 12, 13.
December 10, 2025
Lancaster, PA December 10th, 2025
Our event included a short set of live poetry and music by Theatre For Transformation, followed by the film screening, followed by a panel discussion with RT lead/subject Christian Howes and a formerly incarcerated representative from the Lancaster Bail Fund. Other participating partners included Franklin and Marshall College Humanities, Music for Everyone, and Mental Health America of Lancaster. The UU, Shining Light, and other local organizations showed support as well. Barry Kornhauser from the Ware Performing Arts Center attended and proposed a larger event at the PAC in October, 2026.
November 23, 2025 – 4pm
Rosendale, NY, November 23rd, 2025
120 people attended our public screening at the historic Rosendale Theater. Partner organizations included the Bard Prison Initiative, The Restorative Justice Center, Bars Beyond Bars, and Family of Woodstock. The audience stayed to engage in reflections with our panelists following the screening. See the full panel here.
November 14, 2025
Greenville, SC.
We hosted a private screening for 15 formerly incarcerated individuals currently residing at Soteria House- a transitional housing for prisoners reentering society. Following the screening we engaged in conversation. The founder and executive director Jerry Blassingame said that the reason he wanted to show the film to the residents was “to help them by making it easier for them to share their own stories in better ways”.
October 21, 2025
Black Mountain, NC
The Redemption Time team worked with the organizers at Christmount to produce a screening, musical performance, and conversation with an interfaith group, including many ministers around the theme: “Companions on the Journey”, exploring the truth that no matter our differences, we are companions on the journey toward authentic communion with God & neighbor.
The “Chautauqua Comes to Christmount” conference, is modeled after the Chautauqua Institution, which began as a training camp for Sunday School teachers, founded in 1874. Since those early years, Chautauqua Institution has grown into an Inter-faith community that is dedicated to the exploration of the best in human values and the enrichment of life through a program that explores the important religious, social and political issues of our times; stimulates provocative, thoughtful involvement of individuals and families in creative response to such issues; and promotes excellence and creativity in the appreciation, performance and teaching of the arts…truly a “Festival of Mind, Body & Spirit…”
July 7, 2025
Black Mountain, NC.
Redemption Time collaborated with Whitehorse Black Mountain to offer a screening as part of a double-bill live-music and film show at a music festival.
February, 2023
Greenville, SC.
For five days, we workshopped, rehearsed, and performed for a live audience. This live performance served as the basis for the film. We spent the next year editing the film- a total of eleven editions. We also gave educational workshops in Greenville for students at the SC Governor’s School of the Arts.
January, 2019
Durham, NC.
The Redemption Time team presented an early iteration of the film as a live stage production to a live audience. We were joined by local musicians, including Lovell Bradford, who later joined on piano in the final performance.
On April 19, 2026, at 4:00 PM, Trinity United Methodist Church will host a special screening event of Redemption Time, a 70-minute performance film featuring poet Jimmy Santiago Baca and Asheville-based jazz violinist Christian Howes — artists whose lives were shaped by incarceration and who now give voice to stories of dignity, struggle, and renewal.
Directed by David Gonzalez, the film blends spoken word poetry, live jazz, and cinematic storytelling into a powerful experience tracing journeys from trauma and incarceration toward healing, belonging, and personal freedom.
The event invites the community to reflect on themes that resonate far beyond the screen — belonging and isolation, judgment and dignity, harm and healing, and the possibility of second chances. Admission is free, with optional donations.
The program will begin with live music and poetry readings, followed by the film screening, a panel discussion, and a closing reception at Deep Time AVL. The reception offers attendees an opportunity to connect and reflect on the film’s themes with neighbors, artists, and community partners.
This event is part of Second Chance Month, a national campaign raising awareness about the impacts of incarceration while encouraging second-chance opportunities and community reintegration.
Community partners include Deep Time AVL, 12 Baskets Café, Asheville Poverty Initiative, the Buncombe County Re-entry Council, the UNCA Prison Education Program, and Trinity United Methodist Church.
Sunday, April 19, 2026
4:00–4:20 PM — Live Music & Poetry
4:20–5:30 PM — Redemption Time Screening
5:30–5:50 PM — Panel Discussion
5:50–6:15 PM — Reception
Location:
Trinity United Methodist Church
587 Haywood Road
Asheville, NC 28806
Film info and trailer:
https://redemptiontimeshow.com/
Redemption Time centers on two artists who emerged from incarceration to become powerful voices for change. The film confronts injustice while lifting up human dignity, creative resilience, and personal healing. Through an intimate blend of artistic forms and storytelling, the work explores universal tensions — belonging and isolation, judgment and dignity, harm and healing — while inviting viewers to look beyond labels and consider what it means to be human, to belong, and to begin again.
“Redemption Time transcends dualities… It’s a profound invitation into the deepest truths of our shared humanity.”
— Dr. Peter Candler, Author
Christian Howes
Producer, Redemption Time
chris@christianhowes.com
(614) 332-8689
Jess Godden
Community Outreach Coordinator
Trinity United Methodist Church
trinitywavl@gmail.com
828-253-5471 ext. 101
Previews of the full film available upon request.