A Decade Behind Bars: Return to the Farm

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Jonathan Stack

Jonathan Stack first came to Louisiana State Penitentiary to film FINAL JUDGMENT: THE EXECUTION OF ANTONIO JAMES in 1996. Inspired by the unexpected humanity and compassionate community at Angola, Jonathan embarked on a year-long examination of life in the prison.

Jonathan Stack's 1998 documentary, THE FARM: LIFE INSIDE ANGOLA PRISON, was broadcast in 15 countries, and garnered many of cinema's top awards, including the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, an Academy Award® nomination, and two Emmy Awards. In the years since, Jonathan has built a close relationship with the prison and its warden, Burl Cain, producing a number of films and television programs about prison rodeo, boxing, healthcare, and hospice programs.

"Over time, if you return to one place as a filmmaker you can watch how your films... can start to have an impact on the culture of the place you're filming."

"People often ask me why I keep returning to Angola prison. I explain, when I make films I try to find the best in people, as they survive in the worst of circumstances. I want my characters to be as articulate and compelling as they can. In the end, I want an intelligent conversation. Time and time again, when I go to Angola prison, I find men that have faced and come to terms with terrible transgressions. I find passion. I find compassion. I find thoughtfulness. If this doesn't make for a good story, I don't know what does."

"Over time, if you return to one place as a filmmaker you can watch how your films not only change the lives of the individuals in them, but actually can start to have an impact on the culture of the place you're filming. I've never seen this more clearly than in Angola prison. When I created THE FARM, I chose to present the prison and the men in its best light. Over the last decade, I have watched Angola become more and more like the vision portrayed in the film. The camera, I found can be a very powerful tool in inspiring change."

Beyond his prison work, over the last twenty years Jonathan has produced and directed film on a wide range of topics including, Liberia's civil war and first elected female president, the Scientology Church and its insiders, young adults in the projects of Harlem New York, the Golden Globes, Snoop Dog's fight to save Tookie Williams from execution, and the censorship in America.