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Recommended Media
This nominee for the 1999 Best Documentary Feature Academy Award takes viewers into one of the nation's most infamous correctional facilities: the Louisiana State Penitentiary, America's oldest and largest maximum security prison. Imprisoning nearly 5,000 inmates at the time of filming, it is known as the "Alcatraz of the South" and "The Farm." Over one year, filmmakers followed the stories of six people; among the film's subjects is a 22-year-old arrival who's only just beginning his life sentence and a death row inmate who allows cameras to accompany him as he enjoys his last meal.
Where to Watch: Apple TV+
Notable documentarian Louis Theroux takes viewers into the San Quentin State Prison, one of the nation's oldest maximum security prisons. This prison, located in northern California, has housed thousands upon thousands of prisoners since 1852.
Theroux travels to the notoriously overcrowded prison where he, for an astonishing two weeks, embeds himself into the culture there, mixing with both the incarcerated and their guards. Viewers are given a front row seat to the unique society that exists within prison walls, complete with its own rules and customs.
Where to Watch: BBC, Dailymotion
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as "punishment for crime." DuVernay makes an exceptionally strong case for mass incarceration as modern-day slavery, citing widespread privatization of prisons and prison labor. Featuring public intellectuals like The New Jim Crow author Michelle Alexander, and Angela Davis, "13th" is a punch-in-the-gut viewing experience — but if you find it hard to watch, can you imagine how hard it is to live it?
Where to Watch: Netflix
