On September 30, the Eastern Region Special Projects Committee’s Documentary Series screened Director Kristi Jacobson’s new film, Solitary, in the DGA’s New York Theater.
Solitary takes a disturbing look at one of the most controversial aspects of America’s modern prison-industrial-complex: solitary confinement. With unprecedented access, Jacobson takes us deep into Virginia’s Red Onion State Prison ‑ just one of 40-plus supermax prisons in the USA, where inmates are forced to spend 23 hours of every day alone in eight-by-ten-foot cells. The film captures a complex and deeply moving portrait of the lives on both sides of the bars and prompts serious questions about punishment in America today.
Following the screening, Jacobson discussed the making and aftermath of Solitary in a conversation moderated by Director Nanette Burstein (Gringo: The Dangerous Life of John McAfee).
In addition to Solitary, Jacobson’s work includes episodes of the Reality series Colonial House and the documentary features Toots, American Standoff and Finding North (co-directed with Lori Silverbush). Her 2012 documentary feature A Place at the Table (also co-directed with Silverbush) won the International Documentary Association’s Pare Lorentz Award. Jacobson has been a member of the DGA since 2003.
You can listen to Jacobson's Q&A by clicking the podcast episode embedded below. You can find all DGA podcast episodes here.