Prisoners and Pups

French visual artist-director JR (co-director of the Oscar-nominated documentary FACES PLACES with the legendary Agnès Varda) situates his latest social-art intervention in a Southern Californian supermax prison, where he has imagined an enormously ambitious collaboration with the facility’s inmates.

Five Jewish Hungarians, now US citizens, tell their stories: before March 1944, when Nazis began to exterminate Hungarian Jews, months in concentration camps, and visiting childhood homes more than 50 years later. An historian, a Sonderkommando, a doctor who experimented on Auschwitz prisoners, and US soldiers who were part of the liberation in April 1945.

Errol Morris examines the incidents of abuse and torture of suspected terrorists at the hands of U.S. forces at the Abu Ghraib prison.

This dramatized short film describes the historical mystery of France's "man in the iron mask". King Louis XIV imprisoned a man who was never identified, but who was forced to wear an iron mask for the length of his captivity, which ended only in his death. Several candidates for the identity of the man are investigated.

Rosa is a Mexican woman who, at the age of 17, migrated illegally to Austin, Texas. Some years later, she was jailed under suspicion of murder and then taken to trial. This film demonstrates how the judicial process, the verdict, the separation from her family, and the helplessness of being imprisoned in a foreign country make Rosa’s story an example of the hard life of Mexican migrants in the United States.

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.

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.

The film explores the destruction of a unique train station in Zurich and the construction of the new prison and police centre in its place. From the perspective of the filmmaker’s window, and with testimony from prisoners awaiting deportation, the film probes how we deal with the extinction of history and its replacement with total security.

Devil worship? Could it be real? Follow up to Devil Worship: Exposing Satan's Underground.

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.

In 2002, the greatest prison in Latin America, Complex Carandiru, was demolished. A couple of months before its implosion, director Paulo Sacramento trained some inmates and together with his crew, they produced many hours of footage, showing daily life in prison.

Inmates at a prison in Rome rehearse for a performance of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

Derek and Nancy Haysom were brutally murdered in their house in Lynchburg, Virginia, on March 30, 1985. Suspicion fell on their daughter Elizabeth and her boyfriend Jens Söring. They flee to Europe, but are caught and extradited to the U.S. Elizabeth is sentenced to 90 years in jail for incitement to murder, Jens Söring to two life sentences. Karin Steinberger, Marcus Vetter and their team spent over three years researching this case, which achieved world-wide notoriety. They uncovered new evidence, including the fact none of the blood samples found at the scene of the crime belonged to Jens Söring.

After 23 years on Death Row a convicted murderer petitions the court asking to be executed, but as his story unfolds, it becomes clear that nothing is what it seems.

Documentary covering the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a black nationalist and journalist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, convicted of killing a Philadelphia police officer and sentenced to death in a trial marked by controversial prosecutorial and defense tactics and charges of racism.

On March 24, 1944, in the heart of Nazi Germany, 76 British, Canadian, Norwegian and French pilots who were held in Stalag Luft III, a prison camp of the Luftwaffe, escaped. Unique testimony from the last survivors, recreations and today’s digital images sheds new light on the audacious escape.

In 2016 the largest and most modern prison in the Netherlands, Judicial Complex Zaanstad, opens its doors. New architecture and a new professional modus operandi enhance the efficiency of the complex and increase the responsibility for prisoners and guards. The demanding and versatile work of guards and prison officials gives us an insight into modern prison practices.

Frequent perpetrator Tony ends up in the Pieter Baan Center after yet another violent robbery. For seven weeks, a procession of behavioral researchers passes him by. They must ultimately come to a unanimous conclusion and then advise the judge: whether or not accountable; tbs or not. Psychiatrist: "What is the worst outcome for you?" Tony: "Tbs with compulsory care." The Pieter Baan Center is a detention center with the special task of investigating persons suspected of a serious crime. It is an independent investigation commissioned by the Ministry of Justice. In a seven-week process, the suspect's personality, the possible presence of a disorder and / or a mental illness and whether it can be linked to the crime are examined. Is there a chance of recurrence?

This delicate and impressive collection of life experiences centers on a group of foreigners -- Chinese, Peruvian, North American, Senegalese, Australians, French -- who are trapped in Brazilian jails.

Every year, hundreds of women develop relationships with prisoners. They fall under the charms of killers, petty criminals, rapists and crooks. Most only share a few letters, but some make it all the way to the altar. It is hard to understand what these women expect from a relationship with a convict with a long prison sentence. This documentary takes a look at their lives and the reasons that make them pursue a relationship with a criminal.