Cain's Children

La petite prison dans la prairie

2023

Since November 2022, the Brussels prisons of Saint-Gilles, Forest and Berkendael have been moving to the brand-new "prison village" of Haren, on the outskirts of Brussels. An ultra-modern, ultra-secure, semi-private prison. But why build new prisons in the first place?

Little Proletarian

2012 · ★ 8

A Rebel Without a Cause for a new generation, and one of the most defiant children to ever grace the big screen, 14-year-old Hai is a teenage terror, a high school dropout and an all-around badass. He is also entirely irresistible. You cannot take your eyes off this kid, complete with a motorbike and an everpresent cigarette butt drooping from the corner of his mouth. (Dorothy Woodend, DOXA Documentary Film Festival)

Finding the Gold Within

2014 · ★ 7.8

Six young black men from Akron, Ohio, enter college, determined to redefine society's images and low expectations. Despite their confidence, the stark reality of being away from home brings a series of crises. Well trained in critical and metaphorical thinking, and unusually articulate about their inner lives, each of the protagonists guides us to his core. Since sixth grade, they have been part of an innovative mentoring program called 'Alchemy, Inc.' that uses mythological stories, drumming and writing. In the twice-yearly reunion workshops everyone speaks of his trials and his triumphs with authenticity, intelligence, honesty and heart. In turns quiet, thoughtful and exuberant, the six protagonists grow before our eyes, whether navigating racial provocations, or seeking support with new friends, estranged fathers and wise grandmothers.

The Farm: 10 Down

2009

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.

Mio

2008

Mio blir som barn skickad till Sverige för att tjäna ihop pengar till sin familj i Thailand. Men det går inte som föräldrarna planerat. Under tre år följer regissör Jonas Embring Mio och hans gäng på Henriksdalsberget utanför Stockholm. De lever i en hård vardag med kriminell identitet och våld. Till sist bestämmer sig Mio för att förändra sitt liv.

The University of Sing Sing

2011 · ★ 5.5

An inside look at the notorious Sing Sing Correctional Facility, where one of the U.S.’s only in-prison college programs, Hudson Link, offers long-time inmates an education – and a new lease on life.

The Devil and the Death Penalty

2012

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.

This Temporal World

2022

A haunting story of the FBI's dark hand in American life. In 2015, Khalil Abu-Rayyan was just a young Muslim man in Detroit, Michigan: to get by, he delivered food for his family's pizzeria. Depressed and lonely, Khalil found solace in smoking weed and looking at extremist material online. Then two young women started messaging him, and he fell in love. But one of them suggested he start doing increasingly violent things. Nothing was as it seemed. And Khalil's life would never be the same. A documentary by Garret Harkawik for the Gravel Institute.

Stanford Prison Experiment: Psychology of Imprisonment

1991 · ★ 5.9

The Stanford prison experiment was a landmark psychological study of the human response to captivity, in particular, to the real world circumstances of prison life, and the effects of imposed social roles on behaviour. It was conducted in 1971 by a team of researchers led by Philip Zimbardo of Stanford University.

War on Drugs: The Prison Industrial Complex

1999 · ★ 5.2

The war on drugs has been going on for more than three decades. Today, nearly 500,000 Americans are imprisoned on drug charges. In 1980 the number was 50,000. Last year $40 billion in taxpayer dollars were spent in fighting the war on drugs. As a result of the incarceration obsession, the United States operates the largest prison system on the planet. Today, 89 percent of police departments have paramilitary units, and 46 percent have been trained by active duty armed forces. The most common use of paramilitary units is serving drug-related search warrants, which usually involve no-knock entries into private homes.

IOT : The Most Problematic Woman Behind The Bar

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.

I Come From

2015

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.