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Prison violence & systemic corruptionForced laborCover-ups of incarcerated individual deathsAdvocacy from inside prison wallsInstitutional accountability and public transparency
Shot largely by people inside Alabama’s prisons, providing direct testimony rarely seen on screen.Supported by years of research and collaboration with families, organizers, and advocates.Builds on a lineage of documentaries (Capturing the Friedmans, The Jinx) that uncover systemic injustice and hidden truths.Premiered on HBO in 2024, reaching national audiences while also sparking localized conversations through this impact campaign.
The film documents the crisis.The campaign activates communities to respond to it.
Stop the Deaths: Reduce suffering and deaths at the Alabama Department of Corrections, as measured by the number of deaths, overdoses, suicides, assaults, and incidents of excessive force.Reduce Incarceration: Reduce the number of people incarcerated in Alabama prisons, with a particular focus on increasing the rate of people released on parole.Demand Accountability: Ensure transparency at ADOC and accountability for individuals who are responsible for abuse, to demonstrate the political consequences of misconduct and complicity for individuals, elected officials, and corporations.Spark the Nation: Incentivize reform in other states and catalyze the national movement.Fight for Freedom: Support the release from prison of the main protagonists of The Alabama Solution film and amplify their voices overall.
About the Film & Campaign
📝 About the Film
The Alabama Solution is a 115-minute HBO documentary that takes viewers inside one of America’s deadliest prison systems. Using firsthand footage secretly recorded on cell phones, the film exposes conditions in Alabama’s Department of Corrections: overcrowding, abuse, forced labor, corruption, and cover-ups.
At its center is the 2019 killing of Steven Davis at Donaldson Correctional Facility, a tragedy that became a symbol of a broader crisis. Through this story, we meet incarcerated leaders like Robert Earl Council (Kinetik Justice), Melvin Ray and Raoul Poole, who organized resistance and risked severe retaliation for telling the truth.
The film is directed by Andrew Jarecki (Capturing the Friedmans, The Jinx) and Charlotte Kaufman, in partnership with HBO Documentary Films.
🎯 Key Themes & Topics
🎞 What Makes This Film Distinct
🔗Read about The Alabama Solution
🌍 The Campaign Connection
While the film itself was created by independent filmmakers and distributed by HBO, the impact campaign is a separate initiative designed to carry the story beyond the screen.
This playbook belongs to the impact campaign, not the film production team. As a host, you are working with the campaign to ensure the film is a tool for justice and movement-building — not just a story.
📈 Campaign Impact Goals
Through nationwide screenings, the campaign seeks to:
Later on in the playbook, we will provide you with some tangible calls to action you can present to your audience to help serve these long term goals.
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