Through The Wire

A winner at the 1990 New York Documentary Film Festival and the 1990 Munich Documentary Film Festival, director Nina Rosenblum's chilling documentary about a secretive high-level security prison for female political prisoners, originally aired on PBS's Point of View series. Narrated by Susan Sarandon, Through the Wire tells the story of three women--Susan Rosenberg, Sylvia Baraldini, and Alejandrina Torres--who were sent to a basement in a Lexington, KY prison. The camera goes inside the women's "home," and viewers clearly see that the place was designed for psychological discomfort. Everything is white, except for the video cameras which record virtually every inch of the area. The women, transferred to the isolation unit in 1986, were all convicted of non-violent politically motivated crimes. One is serving a 58 year sentence without parole for weapons possession. In interviews, as the emaciated trio talk about the daily strip searches, the video cameras in the showers, the constantly lit prison, and the hourly awakenings through the night, you begin to wonder what country this is all taking place in--and then you remember that it's happening in America. Rosenblum, who originally broke the story on The Today Show, presents an evenhanded portrait of the situation. Through the Wire doesn't seek to exonerate the convicted women, rather it asks whether they are being mistreated by the American justice system. The answer is painfully evident, and it prompted an investigation by Amnesty International. A compelling story, nicely filmed by Nancy Shreiber and Haskell Wexler, which raises serious questions about the way "the land of the free" conducts its business. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (Available from most distributors.)