A new documentary that illustrates the value of an American life and lists Bernice King as executive producer premiered at the annual South by Southwest conference on March 9.
“Take No Prisoners,” developed by P3 Films in partnership with Ready Entertainment, followed journalist and director Adam Ciralsky as he documented U.S. hostage negotiator Roger Carstens’ efforts to release American captives from the Venezuelan government.
Georgia native and Ready Entertainment co-founder Ashley Bell also served as an executive producer on the film.
“This tells a story that needs to be told,” Bell said in an interview with UATL.
“We invested Ready Entertainment as our sort of financing arm for these projects. ... We hope that when this movie is released, that it changes the level of transparency that we think people can demand of their government.”
Over the course of two years, Ciralsky traveled with Carsten’s small team to demand the freedom of Eyvin Hernandez, a Latin American public defender from Los Angeles County. Hernandez was arrested in March 2022 for not paying a bribe to Venezuelan officials while traveling in Colombia near the countries’ shared border.
“In any of these returns, we’re always playing our cards close to our chest,” Carstens said in the documentary. “Maybe 15 people in the whole U.S. government knew this was going to happen.”
Credit: Courtesy of Norman Jean Roy / Trunk Archive
Credit: Courtesy of Norman Jean Roy / Trunk Archive
Negotiation officials noted that Venezuela and the U.S. had a frayed political relationship since Hugo Chávez’s presidency in the South American country, and it has continued under President Nicolas Maduro.
“The practice of taking people hostage and using them as political pawns has been with us for a while. That said, we’re certainly seeing in recent years more and more states engaging in the practice of wrongfully detaining Americans and trying to use them for political leverage,” said then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken in an interview for the documentary.
“Just over the last decade, incident-wise, there’s been 175% increase in the number of incidents,” explained former Director of Research, Hostage Advocacy and Government Affairs Cynthia Loertscher, who was interviewed for the documentary.
“[Adversaries have been] trying to use an American citizen as a geo-political pawn to be able to force a prisoner swap or try to affect a change in policy.”
Hernandez was arrested for conspiracy and association to commit crimes against the state. He was detained at “The House of Dreams” prison, said to be the worst prison in Venezuela.
Ciralsky immersed himself into the life of an international negotiator during production, sometimes finding himself sitting with major international figures.
“It feels very familiar, because we all know about Brittney Griner,” Ciralsky told UATL, referencing the previous hostage negotiation of the Black WNBA player.
“She’s a famous basketball player. ... The question really is: What will the government do for someone who’s not famous?”
Bell said it is necessary for similar stories to be told so people of color understand their worth as Americans.
“Systems overall need to be thoughtful about the protection and preservation of life of all people, including Black people,” he said.
While Hernandez was detained for nearly two years, his family never stopped looking for him. Ciralsky said he and the U.S. negotiation team became not just professionally but emotionally acquainted with the relatives.
Credit: Courtesy of SXSW
Credit: Courtesy of SXSW
“They went from these working-class folks in South Central and, in a matter of months, turned themselves into a very savvy, sophisticated and powerful lobbying organization,” Ciralsky declared of Hernandez’s family and friends. “That’s an amazing journey to watch.”
He detailed how people do not believe they have power, but Ciralsky watched the family pass out hostage education material to people in their community and protest in front of the White House. They also attended events that honored those who had been detained and the people who helped free them from captivity.
Ciralsky displayed a clear message in the documentary: Color doesn’t matter when it comes to securing the safety of Americans in foreign governments.
“There’s only one color that does matter; it’s blue. That means if you have a blue passport, a blue American passport, as [Carsten] likes to say, ‘Your government’s coming to get you,’” Ciralsky explained.
“We always ask: What will the government do for the least of us? The answer is, everything,” Ciralsky added.
“When it’s life or death and an American is taken, is held by a foreign government, there was no idea too crazy for [America] to consider. There was no scenario they would not play out.”
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