fREE MEN

DOCUMENTARY (2018)

Storyline
Told through the charismatic voice of inmate Kenneth Reams, FREE MEN is a film about human resilience. In solitary confinement for the last 25 years, Kenneth has pushed back the walls of his cell to become a painter, a poet while fighting at the same time for justice. At age 18, Kenneth Reams was convicted for capital murder without firing a bullet. The film captures Kenneth’s struggle, with unprecedented access to his daily battle, and raises universal questions - How can we fight injustice? How can we continue to move forward and find a sense of purpose in life? 

Director
Anne-Frederique Widmann

Festivals & Awards
International Film Festival For Human Rights (Geneva, Switzerland) 
Beirut Human Rights Film Festival (Lebanon)
Mexico Festival DocsMX (Mexico)
Austin Film Festival (USA)
Human Rights film Tour (Islamabad Pakistan)

More Info
FreeKennethReams.org

ORIGINAL SCORE

CREDITS

Music written & produced by Costanza Francavilla

Costanza Francavilla
Piano, Hang, Synths, Bass, Electronics, String Arrangements, Programming, Mixing

Stefano Cabrera
Cello

Katleen Supove
Piano

Davide Swarup
Hand Pans

Rafael Anton Irisarri
Mastering

NOTES

“FREE MEN is not only a story about death and isolation. It’s a story of hope love, resilience. During the making of the score I was in touch with Kenneth on the prison phone, and just hearing his powerful voice, his sense of freedom and his willing to fight for his life gave me a lot of inspiration for the music. 
So with the film score I tried to create both a balance and a contrast between the darkness/death and the light/freedom tensions on the movie. 
I used very minimal and dark analog synthesizers together with a deep sustained cello to get closer to the darkest side of the story... Kenneth in the isolation cell, the numerous executions happening in death row. 
For the hopeful side of the story I wrote several themes with the piano (performed by the incredible pianist Kathy Supove, a John Zorn collaborator) intertwined with arpeggeted analog synth melodies.
But the main “color” of the soundtrack (heard also in the opening theme and the ending credits) is composed with the Hang… a very special instrument that was invented by a Swiss couple for a child with hearing impairment, to connect him with the outside world thru the sonic vibration. 
I felt very connected with this special instrument, it has a very spiritual sound, very sparse and minimal but very powerful... and it's made of metal, so somehow it was reconnecting with symbolic aspect of being behind metal bars, but being able to “evade” with the vibration of a positive mind.  
At the moment I’m working with Kenneth on a music project, we are writing songs together, even thou its not easy to communicate from a death row isolation cell. 
I feel very honored to be part of this challenging and life changing project. Hopefully the film will have an impact on people's hearts and will be able to contribute to set Kenneth free”. Costanza Francavilla