I Am Ready, Warden, is the latest documentary short film by Academy Award-nominated director and acclaimed filmmaker Smriti Mundhra (Indian Matchmaking, St. Louis Superman).
The film, nominated for Best Documentary Short Film at the 2024 Critics Choice Documentary Award 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.
In the days leading up to his execution, Texas death row prisoner John Henry Ramirez seeks redemption from his victim’s son.
MTV Documentary Films will release the film on November 22, 2024 exclusively on Paramount+.
“I Am Ready, Warden is the toughest film I’ve ever made, requiring months of work to gain the trust of the protagonists and access to the most painful time of their lives. It explores the moral complexity of a polarizing topic — capital punishment — with scenes that will leave viewers on either side of this ideological divide questioning their beliefs and finding empathy where they least expect it” said director Smriti Mundhra.
Smriti Mundhra is a director, producer and writer whose work spans fiction and non-fiction. As a director and creator, she has been nominated for an Academy Award, a prime-time Emmy Award, an NAACP Image Award and a Humanitas Prize. She has also won a DGA Award and a Critic’s Choice Award, and was named one of DOC NYC’s 40 Under 40 Filmmakers to Watch.
I Am Ready, Warden is produced by Maya Gnyp, Keri Blakinger, Nina Anand Aujla, Smriti Mundhra and executive producers are Sheila Nevins, Nina L. Diaz, Liza Burnett Fefferman.
Executive Producer Sheila Nevins states “This film asks the question – what if the man on death row isn’t the same man who committed the crime 20 years ago? And, is the pain and fury of the victim’s son ameliorated by the execution of the man who killed his father?”
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