Oscars Shortlist Documentary ‘I Am Ready, Warden’ Will Be Free to Students at 250 Law Schools

Attending law school in the United States costs about $230,000 on average, but here’s a freebie perk worth $7.99.

The MTV Documentary Films Oscars Shortlist contender “I Am Ready, Warden” from filmmaker Smriti Mundhra (“Indian Matchmaking,” “St. Louis Superman”) is being made available for free at more than 250 U.S. law schools from January 11 to January 18, IndieWire has learned. The doc currently streams on Paramount+, which costs $7.99-$12.99 per month.

The promotion is in partnership with Projectr, a streaming platform that collaborates with educational institutions and public libraries across North America to showcase what it has labeled “a thoughtfully curated selection of independent and documentary films, celebrating a rich array of critically acclaimed, bold, and underrepresented voices from around the globe.”

Projectr is where the film will actually be free for law school students that week.

“I Am Ready, Warden” is not just on the Oscars Shortlist, it was also nominated for Best Documentary Short Film at the 2024 Critics Choice Documentary Awards. The film is a 2024 Cinema Eye Awards nominee, made the 2024 DOC NYC Short List, and won the Best Documentary Short Audience Award and Jury Prize at the 2024 Austin Film Festival.

Mundhra’s film tells the story of John Henry Ramirez, a man convicted of murder and sentenced to death in Texas. “Through his time on death row, the film offers a rare and intimate glimpse into his attempts to seek redemption and reconciliation,” the official synopsis reads.

The short film is produced by Mundhra, Maya Gnyp, Keri Blakinger, and Nina Anand Aujla. Executive producers are Sheila Nevins, Nina L. Diaz, and Liza Burnett Fefferman. 

“Lawyers rarely get a full view of the rippling impacts of criminal legal cases, not only on the defendant and the victim, but on all the people around them. This film allows rare and intimate access to the real human impact of crime and the punishment, and encourages future lawyers to grapple with what role the legal system does — or doesn’t — play in helping survivors find closure they are often promised,” Mundhra said in a statement sent to IndieWire.

Mundhra is a DGA-winning, Academy Award-nominated (“St. Louis Superman”), and three-time Emmy-nominated filmmaker. She recently created and directed Netflix’s “The Romantics,” a four-part documentary series about the history of Bollywood.

“I Am Ready, Warden” debuted on Paramount+ on November 22, 2024.