Movies: Incarceration

Could dyslexia be a gift? Or can it only ever be a disability? Documentary maker Richard Macer sets off on a road trip with his dyslexic son Arthur to find the answer. En route, they meet Richard Branson and Eddie Izzard, and many other successful dy...

Two brothers, separated by time and prison bars, reestablish contact. Inspired by James Baldwin's short story, 'Sonny's Blues.'...

Incarcerated participants in a mental health experiment watch videos of sunset-soaked beaches, wildflowers and forests on loop, prompting them to reflect on isolation and wilderness. Equal parts meditation and provocation, Blue Room identifies the da...

Set in a speakeasy in Atlanta, “Twenty” is a feature documentary about fifteen young people making it through 2020. The film is an observational time capsule that lays bare the raw reflections of a group of people surviving a year that will be seare...

Juana, Mar, and Eduardo tell their stories of abuse....

After a botched home invasion, 15-year-old Blake finds himself facing a virtual life prison sentence for Felony Murder. With the unwavering support of his single mother and teenage girlfriend, a David-and-Goliath uphill battle ensues in Elkhart, Indi...

Bubu is a poet who has been committed to state institutions for the insane twelve times. He challenges the meaning of hospital-jails, hybrid institutions which sentence the insane to life imprisonment. The poem "The House of the Dead" was written dur...

Francisco, Isabel, Fco. Javier and David are captured in different parts of the world when they worked as "mules" to overcome the crisis. They tell their stories from the deal that turned them into traffickers to their release from prison....

Trevor McDonald goes to Rockville Correctional Facility in Indiana to speak with some of the women that live there....

MILWAUKEE 53206 chronicles the lives of those living in the ZIP code that incarcerates the highest percentage of black men in America, up to 62%. Through the intimate stories of three 53206 residents, we witness the high toll that mass incarceration ...

A Southern Indiana man endures a fatal night of torture after being arrested for a routine traffic stop....

Young Dimitris, on the verge of manhood yet very much a child, has romanticized his imprisoned father to mythic proportions. When he gets released after ten years, Dimitris cannot wait to finally know him and make up for lost time. But when his fathe...

Low-level narcotics offenders too often cycle in and out of jail, re-offending soon after they hit the streets. District Attorney Kamala D. Harris has convened City leaders to answer this problem and, along with key partners, has launched Back On Tra...

A father exits prison and tries to integrate with his two children and girlfriend while living in a halfway house and on parole....

In 2002, the greatest prison in Latin America, Complex Carandiru, was demolished. A couple of months before its implosion, director Paulo Sacramento trained some inmates and together with his crew, they produced many hours of footage, showing daily l...

Babz Dubreuil, a lonely ex-convict, works as a cook in a brunch restaurant. At the encouragement of a colleague, she finds the courage to ask an attractive customer on a date. It might be the beginning of redemption....

Low-level narcotics offenders too often cycle in and out of jail, re-offending soon after they hit the streets. District Attorney Kamala D. Harris has convened City leaders to answer this problem and, along with key partners, has launched Back on Tr...

Two years after the riots and deaths at Attica, New York, a community day was organized at Greenhaven, a federal prison in Connecticut. The event was documented by People's Communication Network, a community video group founded by Bill Stephens, for ...

EXODUS is an intimate, lyrical portrait of Trinity Copeland and Assia Serrano as they struggle to make sense of their lives post-release, exploring the overarching question of: What does life after prison look like? Grappling with the weight of what ...

Portable Channel, a community documentary group in Rochester, New York, was one of the first small format video centers to have an ongoing relationship with a PBS affiliate (WXXI). Portapakers interviewed Sinclair Scott, a member of the negotiating t...