Restorative Justice Narratives

Restorative Justice Narratives weaves a story of restorative justice across New England. Following Supreme Hassan in Boston (pictured above) and a high school boy in New York City, the film captures the struggle and healing that comes through restorative justice. Each found the space in their own way. Supreme led great change in Boston, and he also caused harm. Several decades ago, he sold drugs to people, was involved in someone’s murder. He only turned to face this harm in prison. At MCI-Norfolk in Massachusetts, Supreme began to work with prison officials and other people in prison to create space to bring together those who had caused violent crime with surrogate survivors of violent crime. This space brought healing to Supreme, to other people in prison, and to the surrogate survivors and their communities. Supreme followed restorative justice and brought transformation to the prison. He is no longer incarcerated, and now works to bring restorative justice to the world outside of MCI-Norfolk. Through this space, he faced his harm and found his path to walk.

The film will contrast Supreme’s story with the story of a young man who has only recently committed harm and is undergoing restorative justice processes. He is from New York City (just like Supreme), but is much earlier in his journey of facing his harm and of finding his path forward. The film will capture this young person at his crossroads and share Supreme’s story in parallel to show what can be possible. Interweaving these cross-generational stories will showcase the power of restorative justice and push viewers to believe in and root for transformation they would not have thought possible.