I AM READY, WARDEN
A film by Smriti Mundhra
2024, 37 minutes
2024, 37 minutes
No. 455
Documentary
Documentary
Shortlisted | Best Documentary Short Subject | 2025 Academy Awards
2024 Critics Choice Awards Documentary Nominee | Best Short Documentary
2024 Cinema Eye Awards Nominee | Best Short Documentary
2024 Cinema Eye Awards Nominee | Best Short Documentary
Description
In the days leading up to his execution, Texas death row prisoner John Henry Ramirez seeks redemption from his victim's son; an elegy about the death penalty where a prisoner seeks forgiveness.
The film tells the harrowing and emotionally charged story of John Henry Ramirez, a man convicted of murder and sentenced to death in Texas. Through his time on death row, the film offers a rare and intimate glimpse into his attempts to seek redemption and reconciliation.
To gain access to the Texas prison system, Mundhra collaborated with journalist Keri Blakinger, whose New York Times Magazine article “The Dungeons and Dragons Players Of Death Row” was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Smriti Mundhra's powerful new documentary explores universal themes of death, grief, and vengeance.
Festivals
Winner, Best Documentary Short, Audience Award and Jury Prize, Austin Film Fesitval
Official Selection, Doc NYCOfficial Selection, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
Official Selection, Woodstock Film Festival
Reviews
"a gripping examination of vengeance and redemption on—and off—Texas’s Death Row. It is the best film about the death penalty since The Thin Blue Line." - The Texas Monthly
