Free and open to the public, a film screening and discussion will be held at the State Theater in Ann Arbor.  The event is co-sponsored by the Carceral State Project, the University of Michigan Department of American Culture and the Michigan Society of Fellows with support from MI-CEMI and Safe & Just Michigan.

This event is free and open to the public.  Tickets can be reserved in advance through the State Theater events page.

The Carceral State Project invites you to a free public screening of Calls from Home, an award-winning short documentary film about a longstanding radio program that broadcasts messages of love through prison walls, to reach people incarcerated far from home. The film follows the weekly broadcast through prison walls, portraying the many forms of distance that rural prison building creates—and the ceaseless work to end the racist system of mass incarceration and family separation.

The screening will be followed by a discussion with the film’s director, Sylvia Ryerson(Assistant Professor in American Culture and Postdoctoral Scholar in the Michigan Society of Fellows), Ken Nixon (Safe & Just Michigan), and Chuck Warpehoski (Michigan Collaborative to End Mass Incarceration) on current efforts to address the realities of mass incarceration across Michigan.

This discussion comes at a pivotal moment: In 2025, the Michigan Department of Corrections accepted bids for a new statewide contract deciding how thousands communicate with their families—through phone calls, messages, tablets, and video visits. Hear firsthand about local advocacy for more just, transparent, and affordable prison communications, and why these systems must serve incarcerated people and their families.

Speakers include Sylvia Ryerson (Assistant Professor in American Culture, University of Michigan), Ken Nixon (Safe & Just Michigan), and Chuck Warpehoski (Michigan Collaborative to End Mass Incarceration).