WCruel and Unusual is a 2006 American documentary film directed and produced by Janet Baus, Dan Hunt and Reid Williams about the experiences of transgender women in the United States prison system. It was screened on television as Cruel and Unusual: Transgender Women in Prison.
WThe Dhamma Brothers is a documentary film released in 2007 about a prison meditation program at Donaldson Correctional Facility near Bessemer, Alabama. The film features four inmates, all convicted of murder, and includes interviews with guards, prison officials, local residents and other inmates, and reenactments of their crimes. The soundtrack includes music by Low, New Order and Sigur Rós.
WDoing Time: Life Inside the Big House is a 1991 documentary film about the Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary, directed by Alan Raymond. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. It was shown as part of HBO's America Undercover.
WFactor 8: The Arkansas Prison Blood Scandal is a feature-length documentary by Arkansas filmmaker and investigative journalist Kelly Duda. Through interviews and presentation of documents and footage, Duda alleges that for more than two decades, spanning the 1970s and 1980s, the Arkansas prison system profited from selling blood plasma from inmates infected with viral hepatitis and HIV. The documentary contends that thousands of victims who received transfusions of a blood product derived from these plasma products, Factor VIII, died as a result.
WThe Farm: Angola, USA is a 1998 award-winning documentary set in the notorious and largest American maximum-security prison, Louisiana State Penitentiary, known as Angola. Loosely based on articles published in Life Sentences, drawn from the prison magazine, The Angolite, the film was directed and produced by Jonathan Stack and Liz Garbus. Wilbert Rideau, a life prisoner who had been editor of the magazine since 1975, also participated in direction and was credited on the film.
WThe Grey Area is a feature-length documentary film by Noga Ashkenazi about the lives of inmates at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women in Mitchellville, Iowa. The film documents an eight-week feminism class taught by student volunteers from Grinnell College. The Grey Area explores women's issues in the criminal justice system, including gender, sexuality, class and race. A small group of female inmates share their experiences with motherhood, drug addiction, sexual abuse and domestic violence.
WKids for Cash is a 2013 documentary film about the "kids for cash" scandal which unfolded in 2008 over judicial kickbacks in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Two judges were found guilty of accepting kickbacks in exchange for sending thousands of juveniles to detention centers when probation or a lesser penalty would have been appropriate. Some juveniles were sent to detention centers for incidents as minor as theft of a CD from Walmart.
WLouis Theroux: Behind Bars is a television documentary written and presented by Louis Theroux about one of America's most notorious prisons, San Quentin. There, he meets and speaks to serial murderers, gang members, at-risk inmates and guards. The film was produced and directed by Stuart Cabb, and was first aired on BBC Two on 13 January 2008.
WLouis Theroux: Miami Mega Jail is a British television documentary film presented by and featuring Louis Theroux. It is in two parts, with part one initially shown on 22 May 2011 and part two shown on 29 May 2011.
WThe People vs. Paul Crump is a 1962 documentary about the prisoner Paul Crump who was on death row for robbery and murder.
WPrison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall is a 2013 documentary film by Edgar Barens.
WPrison Town, USA is a 2007 documentary film about Susanville, California, a small, rural town in the northeastern part of the state that tries to resuscitate its economy by accepting construction of a state prison. The economy had formerly depended on agriculture, mining and timber, but since the late 20th century has been increasingly dependent on prisons.
WRock and a Hard Place is a documentary film produced by and featuring Dwayne Johnson about youth prison boot camps, premiered by HBO in March 2017. There is another documentary entitled "Jerusalem: A rock and Hard place". This second films deals with life in the city of Jerusalem. They are not related.
WScared Straight! is a 1978 American documentary directed by Arnold Shapiro. Narrated by Peter Falk, the subject of the documentary is a group of juvenile delinquents and their three-hour session with actual convicts. Filmed at Rahway State Prison, a group of inmates known as the "lifers" berate, scream at, and terrify the young offenders in an attempt to "scare them straight", so that those teenagers will avoid prison life.
WSolitary: Inside Red Onion State Prison is a documentary film by HBO about Red Onion State Prison, a supermax prison, in the U.S. state of Virginia.
WSurvivors Guide to Prison is a 2018 documentary film directed by Matthew Cooke exploring the United States prison system, largely through the lens of two wrongly convicted men, Reggie Cole and Bruce Lisker. The film, narrated by Cooke and Susan Sarandon, focuses on problems one might face against the prison system via segments covering topics such as plea bargains, solitary confinement, and the difficulties of life after prison. The movie features interviews with former prison inmates, police officers, court officials, lawyers, and journalists, as well as many appearances by celebrities such as Danny Glover, B-Real, Macklemore, Deepak Chopra, RZA, Busta Rhymes, Q-Tip, Quincy Jones, Tom Morello, Wayne Kramer, Ice-T, and Danny Trejo. Some of the celebrities interviewed are themselves former prison inmates. The film was executive produced by Adrian Grenier and Susan Sarandon.
WTime is a 2020 American documentary film produced and directed by Garrett Bradley. It follows Sibil Fox Richardson, fighting for the release of her husband, Rob, who is serving a 60-year prison sentence for engaging in an armed bank robbery.
WTroop 1500 is a documentary film which won two Gracie Awards from the American Women in Radio & Television (AWRT) in the Individual Achievement Award for Outstanding Director and Outstanding Documentary. The nationally broadcast film (PBS) follows a unique Girl Scouts of the USA troop which unites mothers and daughters monthly behind the bars at the Hilltop Unit, a prison of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, in Gatesville, Texas. All of the mothers have been convicted of serious crimes and are serving long sentences.
WThe Work is a 2017 American documentary film following three civilians on a four-day group therapy retreat with Folsom State Prison inmates. The film is the directorial debut of Jairus McLeary and was co-directed by Gethin Aldous. Jairus Mcleary also produced the film with Alice Henty and his brothers Eon McLeary and Miles McLeary.