Striaght Ahead

Women Behind Bars with Trevor McDonald

September 2013 •English

Trevor McDonald goes to Rockville Correctional Facility in Indiana to speak with some of the women that live there.

Dublin Crust

September 2023 •English

A decade after punk band Crust split, the band members lives have fallen apart. Drummer Bonehead has just been released from prison and sets about reforming the band for one last show.

Y rester

September 2024 •French

The Last Blossom

October 2025 •Japanese

Autumn 2023. Akutsu, an elderly inmate serving life in prison, is on the verge of a lonely death in his single cell. A talking Housenka flower says to him, "What a rotten life you had." Akutsu starts reflecting on his past. Summer 1986. Akutsu is living with Nana and her son Kensuke in a shabby apartment with a garden full of Housenkas. It is the tale of a one-night victorious comeback by a dying yakuza, and his family's story told by a flower that blooms in prison.

Indictment: The Crimes of Shelly Chartier

October 2017 •English

Sensationalized in the media as a high profile catfishing case involving an NBA superstar and an aspiring model, Shelly Chartier was portrayed as a master manipulator who used social media as her weapon. Through the sensitive and intelligent lens of Indigenous directors Lisa Jackson and Shane Belcourt, the sensationalism is swept aside to reveal something much more compelling and complex - the story of a young woman caught in historical circumstances beyond her control and how she struggles to rebuild her life after incarceration.

When Big People Lie

August 2024 •English

Eight-year-old Elvis’ world begins to sink when his mother marries an immigrant stranger for money.

Jail Breakers

June 1976 •Japanese

Kamiki (Sonny Chiba) is a career criminal who is given the chance to break out of prison for the 33rd time. Afterwards Kaimiki teams up with a bunch of thugs that engineer prison escapes for money.

Dark Places

April 2015 •English

A woman who survived the brutal killing of her family as a child is forced to confront the events of that day.

Visiting Hours

August 2024 •French

Alma, alone in her big townhouse, and Mina, a single mother from a housing project in another city, have organized their lives around the prison visits they make to their respective partners. When the two women meet in the room outside the visiting area, an unlikely friendship begins...

The Heist

August 1976 •Spanish

In Mexico City's infamous Lecumberri prison, three drug-addicted convicts celebrate getting drugs from one of their the mothers. They are found out and locked up in the "apando," the dreaded punishment cell. Protests over the treatment of those held in the cell lead to a bloody confrontation.

Two Women

November 1947 •Swedish

Cecilia is in hospital after being subjected to an attempt on her life. Her husband is called to the hospital. Cecilia deliriously mentions a mutual friend. The husband seeks out the friend.

The Walls

Invalid date •English

A Father on deathrow escapes prison to see his Daughter and Grandson one last time.

Amnesty

March 2012 •Albanian

Two people meet up in jail when they come for monthly visits of their spouses. They fall in love after becoming witnesses to a wedding in jail but their relationship has to end because both their spouses get amnesty from the government.

Counterpoint

December 1967 •English

In December of 1944, Lionel Evans, an internationally renowned American conductor, is on a USO tour with his 70-piece symphony orchestra in newly-liberated Belgium. While fleeing from a German counterattack, Evans and his orchestra members are captured by a Panzer division and taken to an old chateau in Luxembourg. Despite orders to execute every prisoner, General Schiller, an avid music lover, commands Evans to give a private concert for him.

One Breath

March 2020 •Russian

Following her divorce, Marina thinks that she’ll never meet love again. Little does she know that one day, she’ll find the love of her life in freediving, one of the most extreme sports in existence, built on diving as deep as possible on a single breath. In the vast, mysterious realm of the sea, Marina not only regains her sense of peace and well being, but also redefines her existence.

The Lonely Voice of Man

September 1987 •Russian

Set in the early 1920s after the end of the Russian Civil War, Red Army soldier Nikita returns to his hometown to see his partner Lyuba, both of whom are scarred by the trauma of the Russian Empire of yesteryear.

Outside These Walls

May 1939 •English

Walen plays Dan Sparling, a convicted embezzler who becomes editor of his prison newspaper. After serving out his sentence, he sets up an independent newspaper devoted to attacking corruption in public life, encountering various difficulties due to his being an ex-con and opposition from the incumbent administration.

Behind Prison Gates

July 1939 •English

An agent for the state attorney general poses as a convict to learn about bank loot.

Duffy of San Quentin

March 1954 •English

San Quentin's new warden crusades for reform and for a framed inmate who loves a nurse.

The Sea Gull

December 1968 •English

Film adaptation of Anton Chekhov's story of life in rural Russia during the latter part of the 19th century.