Why make a documentary about prison?
The full version of Injustice, the documentary about prison available to watch here.
2016-17 saw the worst prison riots in decades. Across the country the prisons estate exploded as warned by campaigners and prisoners. The flames of the riots cast a light on the so-called prison crisis. Look hard and you’ll see it’s not that prisons are in crisis, prisons are the crisis. Injustice documentary investigates this crisis.
Injustice is a documentary about prison that investigates the crisis, and delves into the world of prisons, crime and the judicial system.
Ex-prisoners, activists, criminologists and even prison governors tell us who the prisoners are and why they are inside. We hear what happens inside, and outside. Injustice documentary asks what are prisons supposed to do and what do they actually do.
Prisoners in crisis
More than 60% of prisoners suffer mental health problems, the majority are from broken homes, poor backgrounds with little education or prospects. We have to ask whether further disadvantaging them merely deepens the problem rather than providing solutions.
The film forces the question: Are prisons merely the tail end of social problems that have been left to fester?
Criminalisation
Sociologists and criminologists explain the context of crime and criminalisation, and prisoners narrate their backgrounds and how their lives before and after prison unfolded. A prison governor recalls the lesson he learned, that most prisoners shouldn’t be there, and it really could happen to anyone.
Not just another documentary about prison.
Injustice is not just another prison documentary. It opposes the corporate media approach to prison films, thirsty as they are for cliche and unintended parody.
Injustice has no camera operators chasing after prison guards closing in on their prey as if we were in a wildlife documentary. Prisoners are human beings, not animals. We ask the prison authorities for permission to make this film. We asked the prisoners instead.
Screenings of Injustice documentary
Injustice was released in winter 2017. If you would like to arrange or attend a screening, please get in touch. You can find screenings here.
You can read more about the film-making process in our blogs. Or you can see our trailers here.
You can find our related work on the state of the media here.
Injustice is a Sambiki Saru production.
