The Farm: Angola, USA (1998)

Directed by

Jonathan Stack, Wilbert Rideau, Liz Garbus

Genre

documentary film, prison film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 28m

Rating

7.3 of 10 from 14 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This documentary follows seven men serving life sentences at Louisiana State Penitentiary. They tell their own stories about living inside the prison and trying to survive.

intimaterawsomberreflectivegroundedhumanizingslow-pacedthoughtfulearnest

What happens

The Farm: Angola, USA is a 1998 documentary film 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 (now released) who had been editor of the magazine since 1975, also participated in direction and was credited on the film. The film follows the lives of seven prison inmates, including Rideau, who tell their own stories of life, death, and survival in a world that few manage to leave. It was filmed during the early years of the long tenure of Warden Burl Cain (1995–2016), who is credited with reducing violence at the prison and establishing many programs to support rehabilitation of the men. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. It won the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury prize, and both the New York and the Los Angeles Film Critics awards for Best Documentary of ‘98. After airing on A&E, it won an Emmy Award. Years later, Stack followed up with the documentary The Farm: 10 Down (2009), exploring the lives of the survivors of this group 10 years later. One man had been executed and one had died during the making of the first film. Ten years later, three men had gained freedom; two of the first six remained in prison. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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