Friday 19th
12:00
China – Death Row Interviews (2013)
Chinese, English (English Subs) – 60 min
Every Saturday night in China, millions gather around their televisions to watch Interviews Before Execution, an extraordinary talk show which interviews prisoners on death row.In the weeks, days or even minutes before they are executed, presenter Ding Yu goes into prisons and talks to those condemned to die. Combining clips from the TV show, never-before-seen footage of China’s death row and interviews with a local judge who openly questions the future of the death penalty in China, This World reveals a part of China that is generally hidden from from view.
13:30
Crulic – The Path to Beyond (2011)
Romanian (English Subs) – 73 min
The animated documentary feature-length Crulic The Path to Beyond tells the story of the life of Crulic, the 33 years old Romanian accused of having stolen a wallet from the important Polish Judge. Crulic is brought to the Krakow Detention Center Custody prison. He decided to start a hunger strike from the day he was arrested, asking for: a meeting with somebody from the Romanian Consulate, a change of the attorney. In exchange, the Consul writes an answer to Crulic, in which he advises him to put his trust in Polish justice. Crulic claimed he was in Italy at the day of the theft, and not only the bus ticket, but also the record containing the passengers names, confirms his innocence. His detention was lengthened by 3 months. Finally, the Court agreed to release the man so that he could be treated in a civilian hospital. He died after 16 hours. Press investigation started in both countries. The repercussions of the investigation have concluded with the resignation of the Minister of the Foreign Affairs, while in Poland, 3 doctors were officially accused of Crulic’s death. The acclaimed Romanian actor, Vlad Ivanov, narrates Crulics ironic voice over from beyond the grave.
15:15
Ghosts… of the Civil Dead (1988)
English – 91 min
The inmates and guards of a modern, clean and efficient maximum security wing are slowly and increasingly brutalised until they erupt in violence. Dark and macabre, and based in truth, the story is told in a traditional dramatic style combined with telephone interviews and narration.
17:15
Blütiger Freitag (1972)
German (English Subs) – 87 min
Pulp Fiction auf bayrisch! Regisseur Rolf Olsen verwöhnt die/den ZuschauerIn mit einem Thriller in bester Tarantino-Manier. Ganz nebenbei entwickelt sich dieser sleazige, kleine Bastard von einem Film zum Lehrstück über die kapitalistischen Verhältnisse in denen wir leben: Migrantenkinder und gesellschaftliche Randexistenzen proben Klassenkampf und Enteignung von Privatbesitz mittels Bankraub. Repression begegnet man hier mit einem zünftigen Gefängnisausbruch. Es zeigt sich hier aber auch wo ein Aufstand ohne Gesellschaftsanalyse letzlich endet: In systemimmanenten Machogehabe und zuguterletzt im Kugelhagel der bayrischen Polizei. Das alles gibt´s komplett mit Verfolgungsjagd im VW-Käfer-Streifenwagen durch oberbayrische Bauerndörfer und mit Schauspielern die man sonst aus öffentlich-rechtlichen Vorabendserien der 80er Jahre kennt.
19:15
Against the Wall (1994)
English – 111 min
Based on the true story of the Attica Prison uprising of 1971. This riot is one of the most famous and important riots during the Prisoner Rights Movement. The riot was based upon prisoners’ demands for political rights and better living conditions. On September 9, 1971, two weeks after the killing of George Jackson at San Quentin, about 1,000 of the Attica prison’s approximately 2,200 inmates rebelled and seized control of the prison, taking 42 staff hostage.
Saturday 20th
12:00
Bronson (1998)
German (English Subs) – 92 min
In 1974, a hot-headed 19 year old named Michael Peterson decided he wanted to make a name for himself and so, with a homemade sawn-off shotgun and a head full of dreams he attempted to rob a post office. Swiftly apprehended and originally sentenced to 7 years in jail, Peterson has subsequently been behind bars for 34 years, 30 of which have been spent in solitary confinement. During that time, Michael Petersen, the boy, faded away and ‘Charles Bronson,’ his superstar alter ego, took center stage. Inside the mind of Bronson – a scathing indictment of celebrity culture.
14:00
Biggest Prison escape in UK and Ireland History – IRA Breakout (2013)
English – 59 min
The Long Kesh/Maze Prison escape (known to Irish republicans as the Great Escape) took place on 25 September 1983 in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Maze Prison (previously known as Long Kesh) was a maximum security prison considered to be one of the most escape-proof prisons in Europe, and held prisoners convicted of taking part in armed paramilitary campaigns during the Troubles. In the biggest prison escape in British history, 38 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) prisoners, who had been convicted of offences including murder and causing explosions, escaped from H-Block 7 (H7) of the prison. One prison officer died of a heart attack as a result of the escape and twenty others were injured, including two who were shot with guns that had been smuggled into the prison. The escape was a propaganda coup for the IRA, and a British government minister faced calls to resign. The official inquiry into the escape placed most of the blame onto prison staff, who in turn blamed the escape on political interference in the running of the prison.
15:30
A Jail in Colombia (2006)
English (Spanish Subs) – 53 min
A look inside the La Modelo prison in Bogota. Columbia. Called a “model” prison by Colombia officials the prison in reality is controlled more by the prisoners than the guards.
17:00
Inside Tattooing (2013)
English – 53 min
A unique documentary looking at the art of prison tattooing in New Zealand. Through a series of candid discussions with inked-up ex-prisoners, gang members and wardens, Inside Tattooing investigates the stories behind these striking and often confrontational symbols of expression. Inside Tattooing is an unflinchingly honest documentary exploring the human condition and provides a rare insight into the intricate nature of masculinity and mana. Challenging preconceptions about criminals and gang members, Inside Tattooing reveals the “human” side of these men, many of whom have been dealing with the repercussions of abuse, violence and displaced values since early childhood.
18:15
The Tall Man (2009)
English – 79 min
This is the story of the death in custody of Aboriginal man Cameron Doomadgee, who was found dead in the Palm Island police station, his injuries were like those of someone who’d been in a fatal car crash. The police claimed he had tripped on a step. The Palm Islanders rioted and burnt down the police station. The subsequent trial of Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley – who had been decorated for his work in Aboriginal communities – made headlines day after day, shadowed by Queensland police rallying in support. Hurley is the first policeman charged with the manslaughter of an Aboriginal man in the history of Queensland. The documentary tells the gripping story of the trial, of the complex Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley (who was acquitted), and of the Doomadgee family as they struggle to understand what happened to their brother.
19:15
Woomera Breakout (2002)
English – 18 min
Footage from the events of 30 March 2002, 1,000 people broke into a prison for asylum seekers located in a remote part of the Australian Desert, and more than 50 detainees escaped. This was part of the Woomera 2002 Festival Of Freedom – a tour of actions held around the desert town organized jointly by urban activists and local Kokatha and Arabunna peoples, who had received messages from the prisoners requesting help and support.
Sunday 21st
12:00
Sacco and Vanzetti (1972)
German (English Subs) – 120 min
In 1920, the anarchist Italian immigrants Niccola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are sentenced to death, falsely accused of a robbery and murder when it was really for their political convictions.
14:15
Prison №1 Lukyanivka (2012)
Ukrainian (English Subs) – 45 min
Lukyanivka is a pretrial detention centre, an old prison, located right in the heart of Kyiv, capital of Ukraine. It is special, closed world. Anyone can enter its dark cells, but only a few manage to get out, back to the world of freedom. And no one, except those who work or are incarcerated there, knows the truth about life behind bars and far less about death. Lukyanivka holds first place in the number of reported brutalities, tortures, inhuman detention conditions and suspicious deaths in prison cells. In addition, since the start of political repressions this is the place where President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych puts his enemies, as Yulia Tymoshenko and Yuriy Lutsenko. Six months ago we set ourselves a very difficult task: to find a way to show people the real Lukyanivka. The real one, not the one shown to the selected media. The penitentiary clerks at once denied our television station any assistance in gathering important information. So, we began establishing our own permanent network of agents in Lukyanivka in order to have reliable people in each prison building and each floor in the shortest possible time. When the work had been done, we illegally passed camera phones to our agents inside the prison. And they started to capture their daily live on video. Of course, we expected to see something inappropriate, but not such a medieval world. For the first time TV will show you intra-cell life, including the life of people who have been under investigation for years and may be acquitted.
15:45
The Mark of Cain (2001)
Russian (English Subs) – 73 min
Sailing ships, stars, angels and executioners. The Mark of Cain chronicles the vanishing practice and language of Russian Criminal Tattoos. Captured in some of Russias most notorious prisons, including the fabled White Swan, the film traces the animus of the flowers of this carnal art by way of the brutality of its origins- the penitentiary and the criminal environment. Incisive interviews with prisoners, guards, and criminologists reveal the secret language of The Zone and The Code of Thieves. As early as the 1920s, Russian prisons and Gulag began to attract the attention of researchers. The prisoners of the Stalinist Gulag, or “Zone,” as it is called, developed a complex social structure that incorporated highly symbolic tattooing as a mark of rank. The very existence of these inmates at prisons and forced labor camps was treated by the state as a deep secret, and their tattoo art was considered a forbidden topic.
17:30
Love Crimes of Kabul (2011)
Dari, Pashto (English Subs) – 71 min
An intimate portrait of three young Afghani women accused of committing “moral crimes” such as premarital sex and running away from home. As we follow them from prison to trial, we discover the pressures and paradoxes that women in Afghanistan face today-and the dangerous consequences when they refuse to fit in.
19:15
The Escapist (2008)
English (Spanish Subs) – 102 min
Frank Perry is an institutionalized convict fourteen years into a life sentence without parole. When his estranged daughter falls ill, he is determined to make peace with her before it’s too late. He develops an ingenious escape plan, and recruits a dysfunctional band of escapists – misfits with unique skills required for their daring plan and united by desire to escape their hell hole of an existence. Much of the action takes place within the tunnels, sewers and underground rivers of subterranean London.
