Leonard is serving life in a Florida prison for murdering Patricia and Chris 18 years ago. Several years after his conviction, Agnes, the victims’ mother and grandmother, felt the need to understand and heal from this tragedy. As law forbade her from meeting Leonard, she decided to write to him. It was the start of a long correspondence that gave birth to a book and a joint fight in order to promote restorative justice - an alternative view on justice based on prevention and victim/offender dialog.
Over the last 10 years, Agnes has met other people involved in similar initiatives. Those struggles echo each other in this film and allow us to examine the meaning of restorative justice and the hopes it sparks, both in the United States and in the rest of the world.
Bio Isabelle Vayron de La Moureyre :
Isabelle Vayron de La Moureyre started filming on a bicycle trip around the world aimed at discovering traditional music. This became the subject of a documentary film and several short films that were broadcasted on French channels Voyage and Mezzo between 2001 and 2004. She then joined the filmmaking team working on Yann Arthus Bertrand’s video project « Six Billion Others ». In 2011, she directed six documentaries set in the Indian Ocean for Thalassa; in 2012 and 2013, she co-directed six documentaries for Arte’s « Dans tes yeux » collection. She moved on to join the team behind Les Dessous de la Mondialisation for Public Sénat and directed documentaries about tin in Indonesua and structural change in Mongolia. Then, between two documentaries on French emergency services for Planète, she directed interviews for Yann Arthus Bertrand’s « Human ». Two of them were with Leonard Scovens and Agnes Furey. It is these interviews that sparked her desire to work on « Restorative Justice: Another Way » with her accomplice and co-director Chloé Henry-Biabaud.
Bio Chloé Henry-Biabaud :
After a master's degree in History, Chloe travelled around the world with a handycam. She came back with the urge to share stories and decided to become a filmmaker. She started working as a reporter in French Polynesia, returned to France two years later and started working for Yann Arthus Bertrand on the projects "Seven Billion Others" and "Human". This is where she met Isabelle Vayron de la Moureyre. Since 2007, Chloé has been directing documentaries and reports for French and international television. Children working in the tobacco industry, sailing records with disabled people, the reconstruction of survivors of the Rwandan genocide, female boxers in Marseille: the subjects of her films vary, but there is always the same desire to highlight people and the strength of their commitment.
