Hilary Swank, who plays the lead role in Conviction, recently visited the Washington headquarters of Prison Fellowship for a screening of the film. She is working with the ministry to spread the word about prisoners wrongly convicted of crimes.
In the film, she plays the role of Betty Anne Waters, whose brother Kenny spent 18 years in prison after wrongfully being convicted of murder. Betty Anne went to law school and spent almost two decades trying to prove his innocence before DNA evidence cleared him in 2001, and he was released.
Just before her appearance at Prison Fellowship, Swank told The Washington Post that since the film released, she had met 12 former inmates who had been exonerated, and that all of them spoke of “having found faith in prison, that it was what got them through their ordeal and the circumstances.”
Swank said she regards the film and Waters’ story as “such a story of faith. Faith in this other person, the faith that Kenny had in his sister that made her feel loved, to continue on. It was this beautiful circle that they gave each other, this unshakable love. And you know, that faith can be compared in myriad ways: to having faith in a higher power, faith in trusting your future, having hope.” She also mentioned “the power of faith” and that the film “is a great way to continue to spread the word” about those wrongly imprisoned. She has worked with Waters and The Innocence Project to that end.
Here’s a video of highlights of Swank’s visit with Prison Fellowship:
