SOLITARY: INSIDE RED ONION STATE PRISON won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Documentary at the 39th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards. Congratulations to the team in making this timely and poignant film, and gratitude to those who courageously shared their truth!
SOLITARY was nominated for TWO Emmy Awards for Outstanding Investigative Documentary and Outstanding Editing: Documentary.
Located on an Appalachian mountaintop in Wise County, Va., Red Onion State Prison is a “supermax” facility built to house individual inmates in 8’x10’ solitary-confinement cells, 23 hours a day, for months, years and sometimes decades. Directed and produced by Kristi Jacobson, SOLITARY: Inside Red Onion State Prison explores life on both sides of the bars, raising provocative questions about punishment in America today.
The film was produced by executive producer, David Menschel; producers, Julie Goldman, Katie Mitchell; editor, Ben Gold; director of photography, Nelson Hume; original music, T. Griffin. For HBO: Senior Producer, Nancy Abraham; Executive Producer, Sheila Nevins.
WATCH SOLITARY NOW STREAMING ON HBO TODAY!
WATCH TRAILER HERE.
Learn more about solitary confinement and join the fight with the ACLU of Virginia and Interfaith Action for Human Rights.
“The penetrating “Solitary” is a sobering account of life (without parole) inside the Red Onion”
–LA TImeS
“Deeply disturbing and moving.”
–DOCUMENTARY MAGAZINE
“Intelligent, thoughtful, and tough documentary filmmaking.”
–FLAVORWIRE
“Refusing to shy away from harsh truths...SOLITARY offers a complicated portrait of 21st-century crime and punishment.”
–VARIETY
“An act of wide-ranging compassion.”
–HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
Additional Press
In Solitary, Kristi Jacobson Finds that No Matter the Punishment, Humanity Remains, Paste Magazine, February 2017
A New Prison Documentary On HBO Reveals Life In Solitary Confinement, Forbes, February 2017
Documentary Focuses On 'Voicelessness And Helplessness' Of Solitary Confinement, NPR- All Things Considered, February 2017
Documentary examines life inside America's supermax prisons, CBS News, February 2017
Documentary set in Virginia super-max prison makes HBO premiere on Monday, Richmond Times- Dispatch, February 2017
Watch: A New Documentary’s Rare Access Inside Solitary, The Marshall Project, February 2017
A Devastating Look Into Isolation in “Solitary”, Washington Square News, January 2017
HBO's Solitary Confinement Documentary Looks Horrifying, Esquire, January 2017
Tribeca Film Fest: Filmmakers Talk Doc ‘Solitary’- Does Solitary Confinement Ever Make Sense?, Reel Life With Jane, October 2016
What Living in a bathroom-sized room does to your mind, The Independent, August 2016
A Glimpse Into the Lives of Those Forced into Solitary Confinement, The Innocence Project, July 2016
The AFI DOCS Interview: SOLITARY Director Kristi Jacobson, American Film Institute Magazine, June 2016
Film goes inside Virginia super-max, Bristol Herald Courier, May 2016
‘Solitary’ Tribeca Clip: Time-Stopping All-Access Look Inside A Supermax Prison, Deadline, April 2016
'Solitary' Tribeca Review, The Hollywood Reporter, April 2016
Film Review: 'Solitary', Variety, April 2016
At Tribeca, Journalistic Docs Shine, Documentary Magazine, April 2016
The Best and Worst Documentaries of the Tribeca Film Festival, Flavorwire, April 2016