After peaking in the early 1990s, U.S. crime rates have steadily declined—today standing at nearly half their peak. Yet incarceration rates have not followed the same trajectory. With roughly 1% of the adult population behind bars, the United States continues to maintain one of the highest incarceration rates in the world.
Filmmaker Andrew Jarecki (Oscar-nominated for Capturing the Friedmans) first became interested in the American carceral system while making that landmark documentary. Years later, teaming up with filmmaker Charlotte Kaufman, he began a multi-year investigation into conditions inside the Alabama state prison system—communicating directly, via video calls, with incarcerated activists.
The result is THE ALABAMA SOLUTION, a searing portrait of prison overcrowding, institutional corruption, and systemic failure. The film examines the collision of “tough on crime” politics, the prison-industrial complex, and a system many argue is violating the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
And yet, like the most powerful prison dramas, the film doesn’t surrender entirely to despair. There are moments of resilience and humanity amid the anger—glimpses of the possibility of rehabilitation, even within a broken structure.
Premiering to strong acclaim at Sundance, THE ALABAMA SOLUTION is now nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 2026 Academy Awards.
Our conversation with Oscar nominees Charlotte Kaufman and Andrew Jarecki begins now on INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE.