College Behind Bars

FAIN: TR-256166-17

Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association (Arlington, VA 22206-3440)
Anne Harrington (Project Director: January 2017 to present)

Production of a two-hour documentary that chronicles the intellectual and personal journeys of men and women who participate in a rigorous liberal arts college program as inmates of New York state prisons.

College Behind Bars is a two-hour documentary directed by Lynn Novick and produced by Sarah Botstein, which brings to life the practice of liberal arts education among inmates in American prisons. The project is a co-production of WETA, the leading public broadcasting station in the nation’s capital and the second-largest producing station of PBS programming, and Skiff Mountain Films, a documentary production company based in New York City. Novick and Botstein are longtime filmmaking partners of documentarian Ken Burns, who is serving as Executive Producer. The project is produced in association with Burns’ production company, Florentine Films. Slated for national broadcast on PBS in 2018, College Behind Bars will be accompanied by a multi-platform digital media campaign.