Prisoner of the Iron Bars

Considered one of the most important Brazilian documentaries of all time, Paulo Sacramento’s 2003 brilliant debut film O Prisioneiro da Grade de Ferro shows the Brazilian penitentiary system from inside. With a population of about 7000 prisoners distributed across nine pavilions over five floors, the Carandiru House of Detention became known worldwide after the famous massacre of one hundred and eleven prisoners in 1992. A couple of months before the prison’s implosion, the Brazilian filmmaker taught some of its inmates how to use video cameras so they could start recording their daily lives inside the biggest prison in Latin America. Following this visionary gesture and guided by Sacramento’s crew, the inmates produced hundreds of hours of footage, showing daily life in prison. Their internal rules, punishment, entertainment, weapons, death, drugs, booze, living conditions, food, sexual life, religion, creeds, families, hopes, and dreams are exposed without restriction in this monumental film. (Viennale)