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Season 1 – College Behind Bars

Play trailer Poster for Season 1 – College Behind Bars Nov 2019 Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 5 Reviews 83% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Men and women serving time in New York struggle to turn their lives around in a liberal arts college degree program.

Critics Reviews

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Lucy Mangan Guardian 06/16/2020
4/5
It also allows the film's focus to remain on the educational programme and its effects. Heartfelt testimonies from current and past participants abound about the internal transformations wrought. Go to Full Review Daniel Fienberg The Hollywood Reporter 11/26/2019
[It's] persuasive and compelling as an argument for prison education reform, but more than that, it's so humane and emotional that it will probably have you brushing away tears as you're pondering bigger questions. Go to Full Review Hank Stuever Washington Post 11/26/2019
It's especially fascinating to watch two students in particular - Rodney Spivey-Jones and Sebastian Yoon - as they shape their complicated senior theses into works that impress a committee of their professors. Go to Full Review Jason Gorber POV Magazine 11/26/2019
The simple thing would be to create a film series that over-glorifies the situation... Yet by proceeding in a deliberate yet precise way, College Behind Bars builds into something quite extraordinary. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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10/20/2020 After the first 20 minutes presenting some arguments for and against, there was unfortunately another hour of mawkish literature recital. It was not explored whether the 4% recidivism was a selection bias rather than a change. Would have liked victim, prison-guard, future employer perspectives etc and discussion of ethics of rehabilitation funding. See more Read all reviews
College Behind Bars — Season 1

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Cast & Crew

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Lynn Novick

Director

Lynn Novick

Producer

Sarah Botstein

Producer

Ken Burns

Executive Producer

Episodes

Episode 1 Aired Nov 25, 2019 Parts One & Two Incarcerated men and women are admitted to the Bard Prison Initiative, a rigorous college program, where some make great strides while others feel the pressure. Details Episode 2 Aired Nov 26, 2019 Parts Three & Four The students embark on year-long senior projects; the debate team faces West Point and Harvard University; bachelor's and associate degrees are awarded. Details

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College Behind Bars — Season 1

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Season Info

Director
Lynn Novick
Executive Producer
Ken Burns
Network
PBS
Rating
TV-14 (L)
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date
Nov 25, 2019