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13th

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• Documentary
• Crime/detective

• 2016
• Ava DuVernay
• 99 mins
• 15

Summary

In this thought-provoking documentary, scholars, activists and politicians analyze the criminalization of African Americans and the U.S. prison boom.

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IMDB

Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Trevor Johnston

Ava DuVernay, director of the acclaimed Civil Rights era drama Selma, offers a broader history of racial oppression in this documentary. It's titled after the US constitution's 13th Amendment, where the abolition of slavery, in a significant sub-clause, did not apply to those convicted of a crime - so, a Black person could be dumped back into slavery if they were accused of even a minor offence, like vagrancy. Using archive clips, plus interviews with academics, politicians and former prisoners, DuVernay's film briskly surveys how the statutory victories of 60s protesters generated a response from subsequent Washington administrations where, under the guise of wars on crime and drugs, a wave of mass incarceration impacted most deeply on poor Black communities. With the effective militarisation of law enforcement, we arrive at the current crisis of police shootings. The film sees the advent of smartphone video and the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement as a positive move. A partisan view, perhaps, but the film's argument is strong, articulately expressed, and backed up by truly disturbing images of injustices past and present.

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8.2/10

How to watch

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Streaming

• Netflix

Credits

Cast

rolenameSelf - Chair, Pan-African Studies, California State University, Los AngelesMelina AbdullahSelf - Educator and Author, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of ColorblindnessMichelle AlexanderSelf - U.S. Senator (D) New JerseyCory BookerSelf - Formerly Incarcerated ActivistDolores CanalesCo-Founder of California Families to Abolish Solitary ConfinementDolores CanalesSelf - Attorney and Founder, Essie Justice GroupGina ClaytonSelf - Professor of African-American Studies, University of ConnecticutJelani CobbSelf - Executive Director of the Center for Media JusticeMalkia CyrilSelf - Professor Emerita, UC Santa CruzAngela DavisSelf - Formerly Incarcerated ActivistCraig DeRochePresident, Justice FellowshipCraig DeRocheSelf - 106th Mayor of New York City (D)David Dinkins

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Crew

rolenameDirectorAva DuVernayWriterSpencer AverickWriterAva DuVernayProducerSpencer AverickProducerHoward BarishProducerAva DuVernayComposerJason MoranDirector of photographyHans CharlesDirector of photographyKira KellyEditorSpencer Averick

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Details

Theatrical distributor

Dogwoof

Released on

2016-10-07

Languages

English

Guidance

Violence, racist language

Available on

DVD

Formats

Colour

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