» First Time Felon (1997, USA)
Two-dimensional story of a first-time offender being rehabilitated through a boot camp.
» The Killing Yard (2001, USA)
Courtroom drama focusing on the trial of one of the leaders of the Attica riot.
» Lady in the Death House (1944, USA)
Lightweight murder mystery where the boyfriend of the woman on Death Row is the executioner.
» Todos a la Cárcel (1993, Spain)
A gala event held in a prison to celebrate former political prisoners serves as a backdrop for a patchy farce.
» The Mayor of Hell (1933, USA)
Entertaining but flawed musing on self-governing boys’ reform schools.
» 7 Ans / 7 Years (2006, France)
Bizarre love triangle involving a prisoner, his wife and a prison warder.
» Las Islas Marías (1951, Mexico)
A simple story about honour. And love. And finding both in a penal colony.
» Fa Guan Ma Ma / A Young Prisoner’s Revenge (2001, China)
Warning: he’s hardly a prisoner (not in screentime, at least), and he doesn’t get revenge. But he is young.
» Crónica De Una Fuga / Chronicle of an Escape (2006, Argentina)
Gripping drama of an escape from a clandestine detention centre run by the military junta in Buenos Aires in 1977.
» Gideon’s Trumpet (1980, USA)
The true story of the landmark case guaranteeing US defendants the right to counsel.