An Oscar nominee for Best Documentary, Garrett Bradley’s Amazon original Time (2020) differs markedly from other activist-minded films about Black lives upended by incarceration in America. Instead of presenting statistics and talking-head experts, Bradley draws on two decades worth of home video footage while following current efforts by Sibil Fox Richardson to free her husband Rob from Angola prison.
In 1997, after a loan for their clothing business fell through, the Richardsons robbed a local credit union in Shreveport, LA. As an accessory, Sibil—who owns a successful car dealership under the name “Fox Rich”—was sentenced to 36 months and released early; Rob’s conviction resulted in 60 years.
Filmed in black-and-white, Time intercuts archival family video of Fox and her six sons—attending church, celebrating graduations, driving to prison to visit Rob—with contemporary scenes of the Richardsons. Over the decades, Fox—who would also become a sought-after motivational speaker—raised her children and tirelessly lobbied for her husband’s parole. Some of the most quietly heartbreaking scenes here show Fox calling Angola for updates on her husband’s parole status, remaining unflaggingly polite in the face of bureaucratic indifference.
Time exists because of Fox’s (and one son in particular) commitment to documenting the family life that Rob could not participate in—20 years’ worth, squeezed intermittently into 81 minutes. Viewers are witness to a stunning loss of time together, watching six boys grow into young men while their mother struggles to bring their father home. Without pounding any drums, the film simply presents a human tragedy, one that continues to play out for many other Black families in America.
Presented with a new 4K digital master, extras include an audio commentary featuring director Garrett Bradley, a new interview with Sibil Fox and Robert Richardson, a new conversation between Bradley and critic and author Hilton Als, Bradley’s 2017 short documentary Alone (with optional commentary by the film’s subject, Aloné Watts), and a leaflet with an essay by New Yorker TV critic Doreen St. Félix.
Highly recommended for academic libraries and professors of history, racial studies, and social justice.