Social & External
The people behind it
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.
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.
Documentary on Sakine Cansız (Sara), the Kurdish revolutionary and PKK co-founder killed in Paris in January 2013 by Turkish agents.
Four-time Emmy winner John Kastner was granted unprecedented access to the Brockville facility for 18 months, allowing 46 patients and 75 staff to share their experiences with stunning frankness. The result is two remarkable documentaries: the first, NCR: Not Criminally Responsible, premiered at Hot Docs in the spring of 2013 and follows the story of a violent patient released into the community. The second film, Out of Mind, Out of Sight, returns to the Brockville Mental Health Centre to profile four patients, two men and two women, as they struggle to gain control over their lives so they can return to a society that often fears and demonizes them.
Five transgender women share their prison experiences. Interviews with attorneys, doctors, and other experts are also included.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A surreal look at the day-to-day life of American soldiers stationed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba through the eyes of a traveling circus troupe cleared to perform there.
One decade after THE FARM: ANGOLA, USA (Oscar nominated 1999; two-time Emmy winner 1999), we go back inside Louisiana's maximum security penitentiary, to catch up with our characters' lives. While the theme of THE FARM was "to err is human, to forgive divine", we now delve more deeply and find hope for "reconciliation and release". Angola is America's oldest and largest prison, with 5,000 inmates, most of whom have received life -, or death-, sentences for violent crimes, and will never leave Angola. THE FARM continues to provide extraordinary opportunities for learning through storytelling.
Experimental documentary about the Venezuelan prison Retén de Catia.
A documentary about Goran Ivandic 'Ipe', the drummer of most popular Yugoslav rock band of all time, Sarajevo-based "Bijelo dugme" (White Button). Ivandic's fatal jump from the balcony of hotel Metropol in Belgrade in 1994 sparked much controversy around his fate.
A documentary about the life of a female inmate named Ria Megawati, often called IOT. Once known as the most problematic prisoner in Bandung Women’s Prison, she has since transformed into a better version of herself by immersing in artistic practices such as painting, batik-making, and songwriting. Art ultimately becomes her way out of a dark past, and a vessel for expressing emotions long kept inside.
Three boys, they all committed murder. After discovering their haunting faces and disturbing stories in a banned prison documentary from 1984, the filmmaker goes out to find them and discovers untold secrets and a Hungary he has never known.
America is the world's largest jailer and our over-burdened corrections system treats individuals as numbers. I COME FROM focuses on incarcerated poets and playwrights who use the power of creativity to change the direction of their lives. Their poems and plays reflect hard lives lived, tough environments negotiated, past mistakes made. This film focuses on six incarcerated artists whose work declares a wish, a will to survive, to grow as human beings and embrace an architecture of change. Recorded at Northpoint, Kentucky Department of Corrections, USA.
Annika talks In an open-hearted interview about the trip to Sweden, the long fight to be free and her feelings about the crime that has come to mark her life.
On February 24th, 1969, two days before he turned 37, Johnny Cash led his traveling troupe behind the foreboding walls of the California State Penitentiary at San Quentin, long known as one of America's toughest prisons.
In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.
A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.
A documentary detailing the epic Rogues' Gallery of DC Comics from The Joker and Lex Luthor, Sinestro, Darkseid and more, this documentary will explore the Super Villains of DC Comics.
This compelling Documentary moves beyond the spotlight and past the attention-grabbing headlines to give pop superstar Chris Brown a chance to tell his own story. New interviews with the international phenomenon reveal long-awaited answers about his passion for making music, his tumultuous and much publicized relationships, and the pitfalls of coming of age in the public eye. Also included is new concert footage, behind-the-scenes access, and special interviews from Usher, Jennifer Lopez, DJ Khaled, Mike Tyson, Jamie Foxx and others.
A documentary about the making of season five of the acclaimed AMC series Breaking Bad.
An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.
For two weeks, Theroux visits the San Quentin State Prison.
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.
A tribute to Chadwick Boseman, celebrating his life and legacy.
A documentary chronicling Queen and Lambert's incredible journey since they first shared the stage together on "American Idol" in 2009.
An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.
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.
Amber Heard and Nicole Kidman discuss their characters Mera and Atlanna.
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?
The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.
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.
A comedic, brutally honest documentary following self-destructive TV writer Dan Harmon as he takes his live podcast on a national tour.
The Making-of James Cameron's Avatar. It shows interesting parts of the work on the set.
Go behind the scenes with stars, puppeteers and creators as they bring Jim Henson's magical world of Thra back to life in a sweeping fantasy series.
