TRE MAISON DASAN is a story that explores parental incarceration through the eyes of three boys. Following their interweaving trajectories through boyhood marked by the criminal justice system, and told directly through the child’s perspective, the film unveils the challenges of growing up and what it means to become a man in America. Hilarious, heartbreaking, uplifting and ending with tremendous hope, Tre, Maison and Dasan’s lives are stories of growing up, struggle, loss, empathy, positivity, resilience and unconditional love.

Produced in Association with Shine Global.

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Although a bi-partisan, national conversation around incarceration in America has been raging, the population of children affected by their parent’s incarceration has remained largely ignored. As “law and order” policies are once again promised by a new administration, the voices of children must be an instrumental component of the conversation moving forward. Beyond generational incarceration, parental incarceration is at the core of many issues including child poverty, high school drop out rates, drug abuse and others at the forefront of youth-issues in America. Tre, Maison, Dasan will be a critical immersion into how these separate systems interact within the lives of these three boys.

One in fourteen children have or have had a parent in prison. They represent the future of our country, the lasting affects of our vast incarceration system, and a chance to break a seemingly endless cycle of racism and imprisonment. Often we tell stories about children through a top down perspective, influenced by what we (adults) “know” about their psychology and how their lives will unfold. Children are critical thinkers and feelers, innocent to the boxes that society will eventually force them to conform to – race, gender, mental health, and socio-economic status. There is a desperate need for a film, and a practice, that allows the children to speak for themselves, and fully represents the experience for others living with an incarcerated parent.

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Directed AND PRODUCED by
Denali Tiller

Produced by
Rebecca Stern

Executive Producer
Andrew Freiband
Patty Quillin

Edited by
Carlos Rojas Felice

Cinematographer
Jon Gourlay

Original Score by
Gil Talmi

Co-Produced by
Susan MacLaury, Albie Hecht, Sarba Das

Also Produced By
Craig Piligian

CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY
Andrea van Beuren

WITH MUSIC BY
Tre Janson, Dasan Lopes & Maison Teixeira

Produced in Association with Shine Global