Sundance Award-Winning THE SENTENCE To Air On HBO October 15th

The Sentence will premiere on HBO October 15, preceded by an Oscar-qualifying theatrical run beginning October 12.

Synopsis: Drawing from hundreds of hours of footage, filmmaker Rudy Valdez shows the aftermath of his sister Cindy's 15-year sentence for conspiracy charges related to crimes committed by her deceased ex-boyfriend-something known, in legal terms, as "the girlfriend problem." Valdez's method of coping with this tragedy is to film his sister's family for her, both the everyday details and the milestones-moments Cindy herself can no longer share in. But in the midst of this nightmare, Valdez finds his voice as both a filmmaker and activist, and he and his family begin to fight for Cindy's release during the last months of the Obama administration's clemency initiative. Whether their attempts will allow Cindy to break free of her draconian sentence becomes the aching question at the core of this deeply personal portrait of a family in crisis.

TRT: 85 min.

Country: USA

Language: English

"THE SENTENCE is poised to do for unjust sentencing what AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH did for climate change. If Al Gore was the hero Americans at Sundance and BEYOND needed in 2005 - a welcoming, professorial face to associate with the fight against environmental catastrophe - Shank and her daughters offer the criminal justice equivalent, giving a human access point to what many experts describe as a sociological disaster."

- Steven Zeitchik, The Washington Post

About Rudy Valdez

Rudy Valdez is a Michigan-raised, Brooklyn-based filmmaker. He got his start as a camera operator on the Peabody Award-winning series "Brick City" and has worked as a cinematographer for directors and producers such as Sebastian Junger, Whoopi Goldberg, Geeta Gandbhir, and Samuel D. Pollard. Ten years in the making, THE SENTENCE is Rudy's directorial debut.