In 1971, 1,000 prisoners seized Attica Prison. Five days later, 43 people were dead, including 10 hostages killed by police.
My colleague Rob Kelly ranks “Attica” #14 on his list of The Best Prison Documentaries.
Trailer for “Attica”
You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up
- Officials claimed prisoners slit hostages’ throats and castrated them. Autopsies proved this false, but the story had already made national headlines.
- After the raid, guards stripped prisoners naked, beat them with clubs, and forced them to crawl through mud.
- Governor Nelson Rockefeller refused to visit Attica during negotiations, then approved the deadly assault.
Watch “Attica”
You can find “Attica” on Fubo and Prime Video.
Ratings:
- My Rating: 91/100
- IMDb Rating: 7.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: 86/100 (Users); 100/100 (Critics)
Director’s Note: Stanley Nelson and Traci Curry directed this 116-minute documentary. Nelson is known for his films about Black history, including “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution” and “Freedom Riders.”
Release Date: September 9, 2021 (Toronto International Film Festival); October 29, 2021 (Showtime).
Other Unique Stuff
- Attica prisoners got just one roll of toilet paper per month and earned as little as 20 cents a day.
- Built for 1,200 inmates, Attica was crammed with more than 2,200 when the riot began.
- New York paid $20 million in settlements decades later: $8 million to prisoners and $12 million to prison workers’ families.
Wrap Up:
“Attica” is a tough watch, but the firsthand interviews and Nixon-Rockefeller phone calls make it hard to turn away.
Thanks for reading!
Heather Fenty, Guest Writer, Daily Doc