Chesa Boudin at the premiere of 'Beyond Bars' at SF Public Library's Main Branch on Oct. 25, 2023. The film is the first time that all four of Chesa’s parents - his adoptive parents Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, and his birth parents Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert speak on-the-record about Chesa’s life.
A new documentary that premiered in The City this week about the life of former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin features first-time interviews with his formerly incarcerated parents, as well as the couple who raised him in Chicago.
Boudin and his wife, Valerie Block — along with Boudin’s biological father, David Gilbert — attended the standing-room-only screening of “Beyond Bars: It’s a Movement, Not a Moment” at the San Francisco Public Library’s Koret Auditorium on Wednesday evening. During a post-film forum with director Robert Greenwald, Boudin shared his reaction to the documentary.
“This was my first time seeing it," he said. “I was holding my wife's hand. It was an emotional experience.”
In 2019, Boudin, a Yale-educated attorney who had worked at the San Francisco Public Defender's Office as a postdoctoral fellow for seven years, launched a campaign for the DA’s seat and won the election by a slim margin. His campaign focused on the elimination of cash bail, ending mass incarceration, and eliminating racial bias in the criminal justice system.
Soon after his win, the San Francisco Police Officers Association launched attack ads calling Boudin "the number one choice of criminals and gang members," and a multimillion-dollar recall effort ultimately ousted him from office after only two years.
Greenwald introduced the film as a call to collective action for reform.
Chesa Boudin at the premiere of 'Beyond Bars' at SF Public Library's Main Branch on Oct. 25, 2023. The film is the first time that all four of Chesa’s parents - his adoptive parents Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, and his birth parents Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert speak on-the-record about Chesa’s life.
Photo courtesy of Brave New Films
“Virtually everyone knows the criminal justice system is broken,” he said. “How can you use this film to extend, expand, organize and inspire all of us to take action in the movement?”
Although Boudin had long been open about his personal history, the documentary featured extensive interviews with both his biological parents and adoptive parents.
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Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert were Weather Underground members who, when Boudin was 14 months old, were convicted of murder for their participation in the 1981 Brink's robbery in New York. They went to prison, and Boudin was raised by fellow Weather Underground members Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn.
The documentary features photographs of Boudin visiting his parents in prison, along with discussions about the trauma of incarceration. Kathy Boudin, who died in 2022, talks about how the prison guards would not let her touch her toddler son during family visits.
The family interviews are intercut with footage of Boudin’s DA campaign, and last year’s recall campaign.
The audience response to the film was positive, with the only boos coming when a graphic in the film listed all the major donors to the recall campaign.
Gloria Berry, who worked on Boudin’s campaign and currently serves on the SF African American Reparations Advisory Committee, said the negative reaction to Boudin’s election was inevitable because “politically it’s not safe to say you work with someone who cares about Black people.”
During the post-screening panel, Boudin shared that he was happy he saw the film in a group setting.
“In this audience and in this city, I never feel like the people I interact with are strangers,” he said. “The whole city is family.”
Boudin’s politics and activism have moved from City Hall to academia. He is the founding executive director of UC Berkeley’s Criminal Law & Justice Center.
“Beyond Bars” will continue screening on a national tour, including stops in Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland.
