Documentary
A WOMAN ON THE OUTSIDE
After watching nearly every man in her life disappear to prison, Kristal Bush channels her struggle into reuniting families divided by incarceration. But when her father and brother come home to Philadelphia after decades behind bars, Kristal confronts her greatest challenge yet—can she unite her own family without losing herself? Interweaving intimate observational footage with Kristal’s own archive, A Woman on the Outside is one family’s deeply American story about the generational legacies of mass incarceration.
A Woman on the Outside world premiered at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival, and is currently touring festivals nationwide. It received the jury awards for Best Documentary Feature at the 2022 American Black Film Festival and Best North American Documentary Feature at the 2022 Mammoth Lakes Film Festival. Find out more.
A film by Lisa Riordan Seville and Zara Katz. Produced by Kiara C. Jones, Zara Katz and Lisa Riordan Seville. Edited by Suzannah Herbert. Written by Kiara C. Jones. Composed by Gerald Clayton. Presented by Schuylkill Punch in association with Cultivated films. Executive producer, Doree Friedman.
“Directors Zara Katz and Lisa Riordan Seville give viewers an intimate portrait of people that don’t just focus on an unjust prison system but what happens to those who are on the outside. Kristal’s voice is always at the center of the narrative, which gives the intimate moments of her life an honestness and earnestness. It really makes viewer root for her and her cause.” — Valerie Complex, DEADLINE Hollywood.
“A powerful doc about disrupting the system.” — The Film Stage
“A profile of empathy” — Hollywood Chicago
Her America: 50 women, 50 states, for Lifetime/A+E: Lead writer and headed up casting for this multi-platform road trip across the U.S.
Self Made: Casted six spots for Lifetime’s broadcast interstitial series ‘Self Made’, focused on veterans and women’s conceptions of beauty and wellness.
SHAVONNE
For two decades, Shavonne Robbins thought she was going to die in prison. Twenty-five years later, she returns to her loving family in South Philadelphia, who hoped but never expected to see her free. An observational portrait of family, love and loss, the documentary short Shavonne captures the life of a woman sentenced to death by incarceration. (In post-production)
Directed by Lisa Riordan Seville and Zara Katz. Produced by Lisa Riordan Seville. Edited by Lesley Steele.
