For Venida, For Kalief - Film and Talk

FOR VENIDA, FOR KALIEF (95 minutes) is a deeply emotional film that debuts the poetry of Venida Brodnax Browder, mother of Kalief Browder-an African-American teenager who inspired incarceration reform in the United States. By taking us on a poetic journey between past, present, and future it exposes systemic injustice while centering a mother’s unwavering love, a family’s journey toward healing, and a community determined to see the end of solitary confinement and the closure of the notorious Rikers Island J*il in New York City transform into a renewable energy center. The film weaves a cinematic mosaic collage of verité, poetic visuals, and rare archival imagery from 1970s New York featuring the Black Panthers - a bold reimagining of criminal justice storytelling, while revealing how an individual’s life—and afterlife—can transcend boundaries to ignite social and cultural change once thought unattainable.

See the film and hear from the director, Sisa Bueno and Chaplain Dr. Victoria A. Phillips - Dr. V, who has been an integral part of all advocacy work regarding the Rikers Island J*il.

FOR VENIDA, FOR KALIEF premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival.

When: Wednesday, April 15th, 2026 at 6 PM

Where: City College of NY, Shepard Hall Room 291

259 Convent Avenue at 140th Street (#1 to 137th St, ABCD to 145th street, Accessible route: #6 to 125th street, M101 to 140th street)

ASL, CART. Light refreshments provided.

Third World Newsreel and the Documentary Forum at CCNY and cosponsored by the Black Studies Department at CCNY.

Originally from New York City, Sisa Bueno is a Director-Cinematographer dedicated to exploring powerful ripple effects within humanity. Her most recent feature film FOR VENIDA, FOR KALIEF had its world premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Festival in the U.S. Documentary Competition, and has been covered by Democracy Now!, The Guardian, NBC and NPR. Her work has received support from the Ford Foundation, ITVS-PBS Open Call, Sundance Documentary Fund, International Documentary Association (IDA), Firelight Media Lab Fellowship, and the Film Independent Documentary Lab Fellowship among others. She studied both film production and interactive technologies at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University (NYU).

Chaplain Dr. Victoria A. Phillips, known as Dr. V, is a criminal justice, mental health, reentry, policy, and organizational behavior consultant. Dr. V is a renowned advocate for the reform of the criminal legal system, and a recognized social activist for justice. She is currently the co-chairperson of the New York City Department of Correction Young Adults Taskforce. She is a long-standing adviser to The Frailty Myth Council in California and Shalom International NY and Jamaica chapters.

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Host or Publisher Third World Newsreel and the Documentary Forum at CCNY