SAN MARCOS, CA (November 20, 2024) – A movie created by Palomar College to document the challenges faced by formerly incarcerated students is now available for streaming – including a tragic update since the film was created.
“Almost Home: Life After Incarceration” is an award-winning feature-length documentary that focuses on students in Palomar College’s Rising Scholars Program as they deal with getting a college education after being incarcerated. Streaming is available on the film’s website, and YouTube.
The film, released in June 2023, won awards for best documentary and best director at the 2023 Pacific Southwest Emmy Awards. It has been shown at numerous film festivals and won an Award of Excellence Special Mention at the IndieFest Film Awards in October.
Director Bill Wisneski said he hopes members of the public who view the film will change their stereotyped perceptions of formerly incarcerated individuals. “We want it to impact as many people as possible,” he said.
One student highlighted in the film is Luis Jimenez, who attended Palomar College after he was released from prison. In the film, he is shown going on to attend the University of California at Los Angeles after he graduated from Palomar College and advocating in Sacramento for funding to support formerly incarcerated students.
In new footage after the film was first released, Rising Scholars Coordinator Nora Kenney is shown sitting at Jimenez’s grave. He died by suicide on December 13, 2023. Jimenez had just turned 33. She and others in the program are still reeling from the death of Jimenez.
“Luis was always there for everyone else,” she said. “He was so selfless that he didn’t put his needs as a top priority.”
The film also focuses on the successes of other formerly incarcerated students, including the eight students who graduated in 2024 – in total the students earned eight associate degrees and two certificates.
Kenney said the program has served 898 students since 2018, including 400 current students on-campus and incarcerated veterans at the Vista County Jail. Rising Scholars provides students support with the admission process, counseling, and financial aid. Peer mentors and weekly check-ins help students with any challenges they are facing.
She said formerly incarcerated students who have watched the film say that it validates their experience, from dealing with getting an education to basic needs such as finding a place to live.
“Unless you’ve been incarcerated or know someone who was, it’s hard to wrap your head around the experience,” Kenney said. “The film brings awareness to that plight.”
The film was shown last summer at Alcatraz, the notorious former prison in San Francisco, through a partnership with the National Park Service. Kenney took 18 students for the screening, which was shown to an audience of about 400 people.
Kenney is working with officials from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to show the film at all state prisons, and the California Community College Chancellor’s Office Rising Scholars Network has hosted a virtual screening to similar programs across the state.
“We want the film to give hope to those who are formerly incarcerated,” Wisneski said. “We want to give them hope that there are more possibilities than they realize.”
