Watch Beyond Bars

With more than two million Americans currently in jails and prisons, BEYOND BARS is as much an examination of our fraying democracy and legacy of white supremacy, as it is a roadmap for how the power of local, grassroots organizing can restore the lives, families, and communities being destroyed by the ongoing cycle of inter-generational incarceration. Former San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin's story offers a dual lens into the personal trauma of mass incarceration and the tireless battle toward progressive reform within the United States criminal injustice system. Chesa is only 14 months old when condemned to seeing his parents-members of the Weather Underground-behind bars for the entirety of his childhood, a timeline that is interwoven with his historic pursuit to change the system with which he is intimately and painfully linked.

Beyond Bars is a 2024 documentary with a runtime of 1 hour and 38 minutes.