Revisiting the Farm

The filmmakers behind the Oscar-nominated documentary "The Farm: Life Inside Angola" returned to Louisiana's notorious prison this year for an update on the film's characters, ten years later. They found some incredibly moving and compelling stories, and their updated documentary, "The Farm: 10 Down," premieres tonight at 8 p.m. ET on the National Geographic Channel. It's worth a watch.

In the original documentary we saw the heartwrenching stories of prisoners like Vincent Simmons, who has been in Angola for more than three decades working to overturn a conviction for a rape he says he didn't commit. In "10 Down," he meets with the victims of the crime and attempts to enlist their assistance in his fight to prove his innocence. They are convinced, however, that he did commit the crime.

"10 Down" brings happy updates, as well. George Ashanti Witherspoon spent 27 years in Angola before he was finally granted parole. He had become a leader in the prison during those three decades and continues to lead and inspire outside of prison walls.

If you're up for the full experience, you can watch the original film "The Farm: Life Inside Angola" in its entirety on NatGeo as well. The new film, which has its world premiere tonight, was first shown in public June 3 at Angola.

After the jump, a new online community for prisoners and their families, and a trailer of "10 Down."

There may be some propaganda going on, but "10 Down" also paints a picture of a gentler Angola than the notoriously violent Louisiana State Penitentiary of decades past. Prisoners are engaged in learning trades, running prison radio and TV stations and a newspaper and some even leave the prison to speak to at-risk youth. I talked to a friend recently who served 25 years there, and he confirms that Angola has cleaned up its act. It's much safer today than the gladiator school he found upon arrival in the 1980s, he said.

Louisiana still has the country's highest incarceration rate, and the racial disparity in prison is overwhelming (more than 60% of prisoners in Louisiana are black; only 32% of the state population is black). But it's encouraging to see a prison full of long-term prisoners committed to education and self-improvement.

The production company behind the film, Highest Common Denominator, has taken its commitment to telling the stories around our state of incarceration a step further and launched the website Gabriel City, a community for the millions of prisoners and families caught up in the justice system in America. I took a preliminary look around the site and it seems like a valuable resource for the community, and one that many change.org readers would enjoy. I'll look forward to watching the site as it develops.

Here's a trailer for "10 Down" - enjoy.