Filmmaking Criminology: Breaking the Mold

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract

Filmmaking criminology offers a radical departure from the traditional mold of teaching and learning in criminal justice. Most significantly, it engages millions beyond the academic elite to confront the pressing challenges of crime and justice in ways traditional criminology is simply not able to do. I strayed from conventional career path (of what I call the "life-course criminologist") to dabble with documentary filmmaking—resulting in three Emmy Awards for the world's first prison documentary. In the next 35 years, I produced an additional six award-winning feature programs--each offering a compelling glimpse into the character and struggles of those doing time, those watching them, and the institutions where both spend most of their lives. As excerpts of each program are screened, discussion will focus on the evolution of each program, as well as the political, economic, logistical, and academic challenges of documentary filmmaking—especially in a prison setting. The documentaries will include Doing Time; Doing Time: Ten Years Later; Prison Through Tomorrow's Eyes; Straight from the Pen; POOCH; The Legend of Alfredo Santos; and BADASS. My thesis is threefold: the public must be intelligently engaged criminal justice; documentary filmmaking is an excellent mechanism to accomplish this; imaginative criminologists can and should become involved.

Sub Unit

• Area VII: Criminal Justice Policy and Practice / 38: Corrections

Individual Presentations

• Doing Time & Doing Time: Ten Years Later - Paul Sutton, San Diego State University

• Prison Through Tomorrow's Eyes - Paul Sutton, San Diego State University

• Straight from the Pen - Paul Sutton, San Diego State University

• Pooch - Paul Sutton, San Diego State University

• Badass - Paul Sutton, San Diego State University