Inspired by a New York Times article, How We Get Free follows the intrepid Elisabeth Epps over the course of two years as she works to abolish cash bail in Colorado and put an end to the criminalization of poverty. Epps is the founder and leader of the Colorado Freedom Fund, one of nearly 100 community bail funds around the country that help incarcerated people who can’t afford their bail before trial. For Epps, this work is personal – she spent time in jail herself, bearing witness to the conditions she is so desperate to change. The film opens in the fall of 2020 as she drives around Denver with thousands of dollars of cashiers checks in hand, bailing people out of jail (or as Epps says, “paying ransom”), and sparring with the local Sheriff about the future of policing. But after years of grassroots activism, and on the heels of the 2020 racial reckoning, Epps is confronting a new challenge: calls from her community to run for State Representative.
Geeta Gandbhir has been nominated for three Emmy Awards and has won two. As editor, films have been nominated twice for the Academy Award, winning once, and have also won three Peabody Awards.
Most recently, a feature documentary she produced with Perri Peltz and directed with Academy Award Winning director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, "A Journey of A Thousand Miles: Peacekeepers" premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. She is currently co-directing and co-producing a "Conversation" series on race with The New York Times Op-Docs, and she co-directed and edited the film, "Remembering the Artist, Robert De Niro, Sr.” with Perri Peltz for HBO. Additional notable works as an editor include, "Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown," "Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley" for HBO, which was nominated for an Emmy, "When the Levees Broke," "By the People: The Election of Barack Obama," "Music By Prudence," "Budrus," "If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise," and "God is the Bigger Elvis" which was nominated for the 2012 Academy Awards. Her film, “Which Way is the Front Line From Here?” with author and Academy Award nominated director Sebastian Junger was nominated for the 2014 News and Doc Emmys.
