American Chain Gang (1999)

Director Xackery Irving's award-winning documentary American Chain Gang profiles the experiences of the prisoners and officers of the recently revived male chain gang and the world's first female chain gang. It examines the impact of participating in these intense and highly controversial programs of chaining inmates during forced labor. Irving's cameras follow two officers and five prisoners before, during and after their release from the chain gang. This insightful film reveals the inner workings of the modern day prison system and the trials of the chain gang in a way that is brutally honest and eye-opening.