Redemption Time

This sparkling performance film features poet Jimmy Santiago Baca and jazz violinist Christian Howes––two formerly incarcerated artists who reclaimed their lives through art. While imprisoned, Howes discovered Baca’s poetry, igniting a creative lifeline that would sustain them both. Through spoken word, jazz, and intimate testimony, the film reveals the trauma of incarceration and art’s redemptive power. Directed by David Gonzalez, Redemption Time is an emotional journey and a call to reimagine justice, identity, and human potential. (dir. David Gonzalez, US, 2025, 70 min.)

Ulster Literacy Association and Upstate Films invite you to a special fundraising screening of Redemption Time, an acclaimed documentary directed by David Gonzalez featuring poet Jimmy Santiago Baca and jazz violinist Christian Howes. Through spoken word, music, and art, the film explores trauma, healing, and the transformative power of second chances — themes at the heart of ULA’s mission to support adult literacy across Ulster County. The director will participate in a panel discussion immediately following the screening.