The Alabama Solution, directed by Andrew Jarecki (Capturing the Friedmans, The Jinx) and Charlotte Kaufman, is a shocking look at how cruel the American prison system really is. This documentary, which was shot over the course of five years, goes deep into the violent and corrupt culture at Alabama’s Easterling Correctional Facility and shows how abuse and violence are routinely covered up.
The filmmakers first went to Easterling in 2019 for an event that was meant to be a religious revival. Instead, what they found was a front; prisoners were secretly telling horrifying stories of being beaten, stabbed, and living in terrible conditions. Men in prison, like Robert Earl Council and Melvin Ray, used illegal cell phones to tell their stories directly to others. This gave their experiences a human face and fought against societal biases.
The documentary doesn’t shy away from showing the sad facts, like how overcrowded it is (at 200% capacity), how common drug overdoses are, and how shockingly high the rates of violence and suicide are. Council spent five years in solitary confinement, and video of rats running around his cell is a shocking reminder of how these men are treated like animals.
The Alabama Solution is mostly about the sad death of Steven Davis, a prisoner at Donaldson Correctional Facility. Davis died from his injuries after being severely beaten by guards. A picture of his badly cut-up body haunts the story. There are many levels of corruption that are being revealed by the investigation into his death, from conflicting testimony to systemic efforts to silence witnesses.
There are also financial reasons for this cruelty that are shown in the documentary. Alabama’s prisons bring in $450 million a year in goods and services, but the state spends millions of dollars defending officers who hurt inmates. Plans for nearly $900 million worth of new “mega-prisons” show that this broken system is only interested in making money.
Alelur “Alex” Duran is one of the producers of a documentary that shows how horrible Alabama’s prisons are. Duran brought a lot of valuable experience to the process of making movies because he had spent 12 years in a New York prison. His own experiences with being in prison helped shape the story, making sure that the documentary accurately shows the problems and abuses that people in prison all over the country face.
The Alabama Solution shows not only how horrible Alabama’s prisons are, but also how unfair the whole American prison system is through its honest storytelling and unwavering pursuit of justice. By showing this harsh truth, the movie calls for responsibility and change.
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