Short documentary film about the death penalty nominated for an Academy Award

“‘I am ready to go. I am ready, Warden.’ These were the last words of death row inmate John Henry Ramirez shortly before his execution in the Polunsky Unit of the Department of Criminal Justice in Livingston, Texas. This final statement became the foundation for filmmaker Smriti Mundhra’s documentary — and the title of the film — I Am Ready, Warden.

“The short, from MTV Documentary Films, recounts the emotionally charged story of Ramirez, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 2008. His victim was Pablo Castro, a convenience store employee in Corpus Christi, Texas. After stabbing Castro almost three dozen times in a botched robbery, Ramirez fled to Mexico; it took four years before he was apprehended and extradited. On death row, Ramirez sought to turn his life around; he studied the Bible and expressed deep remorse for his crime. Jan Trujillo, a devout Bible teacher – and strong supporter of the death penalty – got to know Ramirez during his incarceration and ultimately became his godmother. She wrote a letter to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott urging him to commute Ramirez’s sentence to life without parole so that the condemned man could teach the Bible to other inmates, but Abbott ignored the request.

“Aaron Castro, the victim’s son, consistently expressed the wish to see Ramirez executed for his crime yet seemed to harbor ambivalence about the death penalty. In the film, Mundhra speaks with Aaron Castro, as well as Ramirez’s son Israel, and Ramirez himself in the days before Texas put an end to his life.”

Read the full story at Deadline.com

I Am Ready, Warden is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. The Academy Awards airs Sunday, March 2, at 7pm ET on ABC and Hulu.