"Can you imagine being accused of the worst crime and being sent to a prison that was condemned by the U.N. for torture; where you aren't allowed to speak for two years?" The man posing this terrifying question was an ordinary American citizen who was wrongly convicted of rape and murder. After spending 23 years on death row, he was exonerated, thanks to the work of The Innocence Project. Jessica Sanders's hard-hitting documentary follows what happens to this man and about a half dozen others after they were released, often with no apology, no compensation, and no record of exoneration, by a criminal justice system unwilling to acknowledge mistakes, incompetence, and in some cases, blatant sadism. The extraordinary work of The Innocence Project in using DNA evidence to win release for over one hundred wrongly convicted prisoners since 1992 has been the subject of major news stories. But AFTER INNOCENCE is the first documentary to focus on what happens in the aftermath of injustice. (Amy Taubin)

2005 Sundance Film Festival: WINNER Special Jury Prize

2005 Seattle International Film Festival: WINNER Women in Cinema Lena Sharpe Award

2005 Newport Beach Film Festival, CA: WINNER Special Jury Prize

Director: Jessica Sanders
Producers: Jessica Sanders, Marc Simon
Screenwriters: Jessica Sanders, Marc Simon

Jessica Sanders is an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker for her short documentary film SING! (2002). She was associate producer and camera operator for two primetime seasons on the NBC documentary series Crime and Punishment, and an associate producer for the 2003 Academy Award-winning documentary short film, TWIN TOWERS. Her short film LOS ANGELES received the Gold Plaque Award at the Chicago International Film Festival and the Lagniappe Best Film Award at the New Orleans Festival.