Brian Mayer on WNYC, and we'll end today by continuing our annual series with the makers of the five feature-length documentaries up for an Oscar.

Nothing wrong with celebrating the great actor and other artists who

contribute to the arts and entertainment films, but on this show, we do the documentaries. One of this

year's nominees is the Alabama solution, which takes viewers inside Alabama's prison system,

a place most Americans never see, and that in many ways is designed not to be seen.

The film begins with a revival meeting, basically a religious service, at Easterling Correctional Facility.

There's music, there's food, but almost immediately, incarcerated men start telling the filmmakers,

this isn't the real prison, this is what they let you see.

What follows is a look inside a state prison system, built largely from cell phone footage

recorded by incarcerated men themselves over the course of several years. That footage documents

violence, neglect, and the efforts of people inside to organize for change. The film is co-directed

and produced by Andrew Jurecki, known for capturing the Freedmen's, know that, and HBO's The Jinks,

and investigative journalist Charlotte Kaufman, who has worked closely with him for the past six years,

including on the Jinks Part 2. Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman, join me now. Congratulations

on the film. Congratulations on the Oscar nomination, and welcome to WNYC. Thank you very much for

having us. Yeah, thank you.

It's so wonderful to be on this beloved show.

Oh, and we'll play some clips from the film in a minute, but I'll tell the listeners that it

begins with that peaceful religious revival meeting on what looks like a gorgeous Alabama

day, but the facade cracks almost immediately.

Some of the men tell you you're not seeing the real Easterling correctional facility.

So what were they trying to tell you in that moment?

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