The film, which received an Oscar nomination last year for best documentary, exposed brutal conditions in an Alabama prison after a prisoner\u2019s beating death. Much of the footage was recorded on contraband cellphones over the course of six years by incarcerated men, who captured violent assaults by guards and unsanitary living conditions. Audience members recoiled at scenes depicting guards inflicting gruesome injuries on prisoners.<\/p>\n
The recordings contributed to a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into unconstitutional conditions in Alabama prisons. They also exposed the human cost of these conditions and raised the broader question: Who is responsible when the system fails?<\/p>\n
That question carried into the discussion that followed the Oakland screening, with a panel of state and local criminal justice leaders:\u00a0Contra Costa County Chief Assistant District Attorney Simon O\u2019Connell, former California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Kathleen Allison, For The People CEO Hillary Blout, and reentry specialist Alwin Smith.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The speakers examined how similar systems operate in California and what responsibility prosecutors, corrections officials and policymakers share in creating and fixing the system.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe system is broken,\u201d said Allison, who served as secretary of Corrections and Rehabilitation from 2020 to 2023. During her tenure, the department implemented a body-camera pilot program requiring correctional officers at select prisons to record interactions with prisoners, an effort she framed as increasing oversight and transparency.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Audience member Rahkii \u201cHyp\u201d Holman, who works in criminal justice reform, argued that the prison system is rooted in a history of control, exploitation, and punishment rather than rehabilitation. \u201cI don\u2019t think the system is broken,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s working exactly the way it was designed to.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Four](\"https:\/\/oaknorth.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260211-ftp-alabama-film-054-1024x683.jpg\")
The panel Alwin Smith (left), Kathleen Allison, Simon O\u2019Connell and Hillary Blout (Courtesy of \u201cFor the People\u201d and Jenn Chen photography)<\/p>\n
Blout, a former prosecutor in San Francisco, said change cannot happen without law enforcement acknowledging its role.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople in law enforcement need to bear witness to what is happening, even if it\u2019s not happening exactly the same,\u201d she said. \u201cThey are part of an institution where this is happening in our country.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After 20 years in California prisons, Smith joined For The People, which works with prosecutors to reevaluate sentences and identify prisoners who may be safely released. He said his experience inside shaped how he views rehabilitation and reform.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe prison doesn\u2019t practice or give rehabilitation,\u201d he said, noting that programs that led to change were initiated by outside groups or inmates.<\/p>\n
\u201cI choose not to turn my eye from my past,\u201d he added, but to let it drive me into the better future that we\u2019re all looking for.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Doug Stringer, a retired prosecutor and defense attorney who attended the screening, found the film \u201cextremely difficult but necessary to witness\u201d because it confronted situations many would rather ignore. He said he was encouraged to see prosecutors publicly engage with resentencing efforts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor prosecutors to be involved really lends credibility,\u201d he said, calling it a \u201chappy takeaway from an otherwise troubling film.\u201d<\/p>\n