Ghosts of Attica

Lullaby of the onion

February 2022 •Basque

Going to the doctor to make a diagnosis or to have a treatment is a common thing in the outside world. But for every prisoner it is a very difficult or impossible path. Lander Garro, the director, turns to those who have lived the experience of being ill in prison to better understand its consequences. It uses a language that goes beyond political discourse, exploring the helplessness of prisoners whose right to health is limited from an emotional point of view, through cinematographic tools. 'Tipularen sehaska kanta' ('Nana de la cebolla' - 'Lullaby of the onion') more than a political film is an artistic film, narrated in the first person and from the entrails. Based on the poem 'Nana de la cebolla' by the Spanish poet Miguel Hernández, who died in prison in 1942, the film makes a historical analogy: if it didn't make sense to die in prison in 1936, does it make sense today?

Chasing Bonnie & Clyde

November 2015 •English

'Don't build prisons, they cost too much!' In this era of Great Recession, the conservative and tough-on-crime State of Texas takes an unprecedented path by becoming a social justice leader with programs that rehabilitate offenders. Looks like rape, abuse and death are no longer parts of the solution for modern-day Bonnie and Clyde...

Behind Bars

March 2001 •English

Documentary about the 1980 New Mexico State Penitentiary Riots in which 33 inmates were killed.

Temps mort

January 2009 •French

An exchange of video messages between an artist and an inmate, a surprising and intimate portrait from behind prison walls.

45 Days In Harbar

March 2019 •Spanish

The plastic artist Cesar Arechiga recreates his living room and studio in the maximum-security prison of Puente Grande, Jalisco, in which fifteen inmates learn about paper production, clay modeling, sculpting and painting. Through this artistic interaction, they share their personal experiences of how they became involved with the world of drug trafficking.

Out of State

November 2017 •English

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.

Enquête sur les camps perdus du IIIème Reich

December 2021 •French

Turned Out: Sexual Assault Behind Bars

June 2004 •English

A look beyond the shock and inhumanity of prison rape to the intricate social hierarchy that keeps it alive. A filmmaker goes deep inside Alabama's infamous Limestone penitentiary to uncover the long-term causes and consequences of prison rape. With a startling lack of inhibition, five inmates reveal the workings of an elaborate inner society.

Strangeways: Britain's Toughest Prison Riot

April 2015 •English

Twenty-five years after the biggest riot in British penal history, this film brings together the ringleaders of the trouble with the prison guards they battled with over three weeks of anarchy that brought Strangeways to its knees. For the first time, these events are told through unparalleled access to the people at the heart of the riot - ex-inmates, prison officers and the governor himself - createing a compelling story of the struggle for power between the authorities and the hardcore prisoners who ultimately took their protest onto the prison roof. The stand-off that followed is documented until the final moments, when the siege was ended in a dramatic takedown in front of rolling news cameras.

Serving Life

July 2011 •English

SERVING LIFE documents an extraordinary hospice program where hardened criminals care for dying fellow inmates. Narrated and executive produced by Academy Award®-winner Forest Whitaker, the film takes viewers inside Louisiana's maximum security prison at Angola, where the average sentence is more than 90 years.

2018 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Documentary

February 2018 •English

The year’s most spectacular Documentary short films.

El Comité

March 2006 •Spanish

A documentary chronicle of the prisoners’ takeover of the Garcia Moreno Penitentiary in Quito, Ecuador. The prisoners find they suddenly have a voice after they take 360 people hostage, and a pattern of abuse and corruption by the guards toward the prisoners becomes clear after lengthy negotiations.

The Prison Within

January 2020 •English

Survivors of violent crimes and prisoners incarcerated for murder connect to undergo astonishing transformations, liberating themselves from the debilitating constraints of trauma, and shattering preconceptions of "us and them."

Women Behind Bars with Trevor McDonald

September 2013 •English

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

Behind Our Walls

July 2023 •English

In America, the prison system has become a place of retribution, not restoration. Inmates are often treated as sub-human, and often find themselves feeling hopeless. But a small midwest college decides to give inmates an opportunity to earn a bachelor's degree. Experience the journey of the resilient inmates as they fight incredible odds to change their lives – and change the system.

The Feminist on Cellblock Y

April 2018 •English

A convicted felon builds a feminist movement from behind bars at an all-male prison in Soledad, California.

Attica

September 2021 •English

Follows the largest prison uprising in US history, conducting dozens of new interviews with inmates, journalists, and other witnesses.

London Symphony

March 1955 •English

Impressionistic glimpses of London life from early morning to rush hour.

My Marlboro City

September 2011 •Italian

Brindisi, Italy: a focal point in cigarette smuggling. The director returns to her hometown to see what's left of the past and what lies in store for the future.

Criminal Injustice: Death and Politics at Attica

September 2012 •English

Forty years after the bloodiest one-day encounter between Americans since the Civil War, the dead remain buried along with the truth. Until now. Based on interviews with eyewitnesses who just now are telling their stories, as well as access to newly discovered documents, the film sheds new light on exactly what happened at Attica between September 9-13, 1971. Criminal Injustice raises compelling new questions about the 39 deaths at Attica, White House involvement, and the corrupting influence of Nelson Rockefeller’s political aspirations before, during, and long after the deadly retaking of the prison. Former hostage Michael Smith said that “the cover up started as soon as the shooting stopped.” This film reveals that the truth actually may have been concealed long before that.