An experimental intake of Ojore Nuru Lutalo as he recounts the 22 years he spent in political isolation, and the flourishing comradery he built with prison abolitionist, Bonnie Kerness, whose work supported him and other prisoners.
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Ojore Lutalo
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The Big One is an investigative documentary from director Michael Moore who goes around the country asking why big American corporations produce their product abroad where labor is cheaper while so many Americans are unemployed, losing their jobs, and would happily be hired by such companies as Nike.
Out of State is the unlikely story of native Hawaiians men discovering their native culture as prisoners in the desert of Arizona, 3,000 miles, and across the ocean, from their island home.
Five transgender women share their prison experiences. Interviews with attorneys, doctors, and other experts are also included.
In 2011, Maine State Prison launched a pioneering reform program to scale back its use of solitary confinement. Bafta and Emmy-winning film-maker Dan Edge and his co-director Lauren Mucciolo were given unprecedented access to the solitary unit - and filmed there for more than three years. The result is an extraordinary and harrowing portrait of life in solitary - and a unique document of a radical and risky experiment to reform a prison. The US is the world leader in solitary confinement. More than 80,000 American prisoners live in isolation, some have been there for years, even decades. Solitary is proven to cause mental illness, it is expensive, and it is condemned by many as torture. And yet for decades, it has been one of the central planks of the American criminal justice system.
Investigating the infamous Abu Ghraib scandal, Errol Morris interviews American guards and Iraqi prisoners who were at the military jail before images of prisoner torture emerged in 2004. One female guard, who posed alongside fallen Iraqis in notorious images, tells Morris that her crimes were inspired by her love for another soldier, and another explains why she took photographs of her fellow troops. In the process, Morris suggests that the scandal resulted from systemic flaws in the military.
A key overview of twentieth-century American fascism and antifascism produced in 1991 by the John Brown Anti-Klan Committee.
Documentary on Sakine Cansız (Sara), the Kurdish revolutionary and PKK co-founder killed in Paris in January 2013 by Turkish agents.
A short, low-budget documentary that follows a small jobbing band from the north of England called 'Hardwicke Circus' as they perform a gig and music workshop at 'Standford Hill HMP', a men's prison on the Isle of Sheppey in the south of England. Shot in Ben Archer's fly-on-the-wall 'gonzo' style of filmmaking and taken from the band's late-2019 tour of England's south coast, this documentary focuses on the joy of performance and music in an environment that does not often allow such expression. Bookended by short commentary from the band's lead singer Jonny Foster, 'Hardwicke Circus: The Prison Gig' is an uplifting ode to the power and necessity of art, even for those that society have deemed not to deserve it.
The documentary depicts the remarkable phenomenon of the national competition Kalina Krasnaya, organised with a flourish in which the convicts from all over Russia sing their way to victory with songs about longing, war, love and forgiveness.
"For Sale! Including 500 violent stone throwers from Hell", was the message from the controversial squat 'Ungdomshuset' in Copenhagen, Denmark. The film takes a balanced look behind the barricades and follows the definitive last year in the life of the squatters before all was demolished in March 2007 and riots broke out in Copenhagen.
Egypt, nicknamed "the mother of the world" by its people, is unrecognizable. Gigantic construction sites have sprung up in the desert at an exponential rate, including roads, bridges, and megaprojects on the Mediterranean coast. This new Egypt is an illusion: in 10 years, the population has sunk into unprecedented poverty. The regime shows no mercy to the poor. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the new pharaoh, and his army have set up a pyramid-shaped financial system, built on subsidies from major international institutions—including the European Union—and foreign investment. The most populous nation in the Arab world finds itself on the brink of collapse.
200 young people under 25 have died in custody since 1992 in England and Wales. This is the story of three of them; young men who died behind bars - told by the people who knew them best, it explores the flaws in the system and the lapses in care that contributed to their deaths.
Four young girls prepare for a special Daddy Daughter Dance with their incarcerated fathers, as part of a unique fatherhood program in a Washington, D.C., jail.
This documentary recounts the dysfunctional state of the death penalty in the state of California by revisiting the crimes, arrest, trials and appeals of Lawrence Bittaker, a convicted serial killer who has been on death row at San Quentin since 1981.
Experimental documentary about the Venezuelan prison Retén de Catia.
After 14 years in prison, the time has come for Gogita to return to his normal life. His wishes seem modest enough: a home of his own and then marriage to a nice woman. But who would be interested in a poor farmer and ex-con who still lives with his mother? Then he meets Maka on the internet. She's not that young anymore, and she's not the prettiest girl in the world, but she can bake delicious cakes. They're soon making grand plans without even having met.
The warden of Halden, Norway's most humane prison, tours the U.S. prison system to urge a new approach emphasizing rehabilitation.
Documentary about a guard at a dome prison in the Netherlands.
The birth of the radical environmental movement is captured in this short, poetic film on the legendary direct action at Glen Canyon Dam in March of 1981. The film contains one of the only interviews ever given by the late, great author Edward Abbey along with his classic speech from the back of a pick-up truck.
An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.
Incarcerated men defy the odds to expose a cover-up in one of America’s deadliest prison systems.
When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".
Fox Rich, indomitable matriarch and modern-day abolitionist, strives to keep her family together while fighting for the release of her incarcerated husband. An intimate, epic, and unconventional love story, filmed over two decades.
In the past 40 years, the War on Drugs has accounted for 45 million arrests, made America the world's largest jailer, and destroyed impoverished communities at home and abroad. Yet drugs are cheaper, purer, and more available today than ever. Where did we go wrong?
Taking inspiration from Peter M. Bracke's definitive book of the same name, this seven-hour documentary dives into the making of all twelve Friday the 13th films, with all-new interviews from the cast and the crew.
With a first-person look at the notorious Crips and Bloods, this film examines the conditions that have lead to decades of devastating gang violence among young African Americans growing up in South Los Angeles.
A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.
Examines the evolution of the Black Power Movement in US society from 1967 to 1975. It features footage of the movement shot by Swedish journalists in the United States during that period and includes the appearances of Angela Davis, Bobby Seale, Huey P. Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, and other activists, artists, and leaders central to the movement.
A portrait of singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes' life, chronicling the past few years of his rise and journey.
Serving life in prison for murdering their parents, Lyle and Erik Menendez speak out in this documentary explaining the shocking crime and ensuing trials.
Global superstar Jennifer Lopez reflects on her multifaceted career and the pressure of life in the spotlight in this intimate documentary.
An interview with film director Roman Polanski conducted during his period of house arrest, discussing his life and work.
Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.
A documentary on the life of John Lennon, with a focus on the time in his life when he transformed from a musician into an antiwar activist.
Amber Heard and Nicole Kidman discuss their characters Mera and Atlanna.
An impressionistic portrait of the iconic actor Harry Dean Stanton comprised of intimate moments, film clips from some of his 250 films and his renditions of American folk songs.
Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
A 1993 documentary film about Bruce Lee. The film includes interviews from some of his fellow students and opponents who worked alongside him in his movies.
The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.