Up the Ridge
Encyclopedia
Up the Ridge is a 2008 documentary film by Appalshop
filmmakers Nick Szuberla and Amelia Kirby revealing injustices in the American Prison System. It especially highlights prisoners sent from urban areas to be incarcerated in rural supermax
prisons, such as Red Onion State Prison
and Wallens Ridge State Prison
. The film delves into issues of parole
reform, prisoner abuse
, and prisoner suicide
. Up the Ridge was created as a part of the Thousand Kites
project, a nonprofit organization aimed at exacting prison reform through narrative means. (Kite is prison slang for sending a message)
In 1998, Szuberla was a volunteer DJ for a hip-hop show "Lights Out" on WMMT
, an Appalachian region radio station when he received hundreds of letters from inmates transferred into nearby Wallens Ridge State Prison
, the region’s newest prison, built to prop up the shrinking coal economy. The letters described human rights violations
and racial tension
between prisoner staff and inmates. Filming began that year. Through the example of Wallens Ridge State Prison, the documentary explores the United States prison industry and the social impact of moving hundreds of thousands of inner-city minority offenders to distant rural outposts. The film displays competing political agendas that seem to align government policy with human rights violations, and political expediencies that bring communities into racial and cultural conflict, sometimes with prisoner suicide
and prisoner abuse
as consequences. Connections exist, in both practice and ideology, between human rights violations in Abu Ghraib
and Guantanamo and physical
and psychological abuse
recorded in U.S. prisons.
Appalshop
Appalshop is a media, arts, and education center located in Whitesburg, Kentucky, in the heart of the southern Appalachian region of the United States....
filmmakers Nick Szuberla and Amelia Kirby revealing injustices in the American Prison System. It especially highlights prisoners sent from urban areas to be incarcerated in rural supermax
Supermax
Supermax is the name used to describe "control-unit" prisons, or units within prisons, which represent the most secure levels of custody in the prison systems of certain countries...
prisons, such as Red Onion State Prison
Red Onion State Prison
Red Onion State Prison is a supermax state prison located in unincorporated Wise County, Virginia, near Pound, operated by the Virginia Department of Corrections, it houses about 800 inmates. The prison opened in August, 1998 and is an identical facility to the Wallens Ridge State Prison in Big...
and Wallens Ridge State Prison
Wallens Ridge State Prison
Wallens Ridge State Prison is a supermax state prison located in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, housing approximately 700 inmates. Since opening in April 1999, it has been a part of the Virginia Department of Corrections, and is identical to the Red Onion State Prison near Pound. The prison was built for...
. The film delves into issues of parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
reform, prisoner abuse
Prisoner abuse
Prisoner abuse is the mistreatment of persons while they are under arrest or incarcerated.Abuse falling into this category includes:* Physical abuse: Needless beating, hitting, or other corporal punishment....
, and prisoner suicide
Prisoner suicide
Prisoner suicide is suicide by an inmate in a prison. Prisons in the United Kingdom had a sharp rise in suicides between 1972 and 1987, with hanging being the most common suicide method. A study found that 47% of the deaths in Finnish prisons were suicides. Large percentages of those who commit...
. Up the Ridge was created as a part of the Thousand Kites
Thousand Kites
Thousand Kites is a national project that works directly with stakeholders using communication strategies and campaigns to work toward prison reform through grassroots power...
project, a nonprofit organization aimed at exacting prison reform through narrative means. (Kite is prison slang for sending a message)
In 1998, Szuberla was a volunteer DJ for a hip-hop show "Lights Out" on WMMT
WMMT (FM)
-Internet:The radio station is also available on the internet, from their website at...
, an Appalachian region radio station when he received hundreds of letters from inmates transferred into nearby Wallens Ridge State Prison
Wallens Ridge State Prison
Wallens Ridge State Prison is a supermax state prison located in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, housing approximately 700 inmates. Since opening in April 1999, it has been a part of the Virginia Department of Corrections, and is identical to the Red Onion State Prison near Pound. The prison was built for...
, the region’s newest prison, built to prop up the shrinking coal economy. The letters described human rights violations
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and racial tension
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
between prisoner staff and inmates. Filming began that year. Through the example of Wallens Ridge State Prison, the documentary explores the United States prison industry and the social impact of moving hundreds of thousands of inner-city minority offenders to distant rural outposts. The film displays competing political agendas that seem to align government policy with human rights violations, and political expediencies that bring communities into racial and cultural conflict, sometimes with prisoner suicide
Prisoner suicide
Prisoner suicide is suicide by an inmate in a prison. Prisons in the United Kingdom had a sharp rise in suicides between 1972 and 1987, with hanging being the most common suicide method. A study found that 47% of the deaths in Finnish prisons were suicides. Large percentages of those who commit...
and prisoner abuse
Prisoner abuse
Prisoner abuse is the mistreatment of persons while they are under arrest or incarcerated.Abuse falling into this category includes:* Physical abuse: Needless beating, hitting, or other corporal punishment....
as consequences. Connections exist, in both practice and ideology, between human rights violations in Abu Ghraib
Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse
Beginning in 2004, human rights violations in the form of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, including torture, rape, sodomy, and homicide of prisoners held in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq came to public attention...
and Guantanamo and physical
Physical abuse
Physical abuse is abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm.-Forms of physical abuse:*Striking*Punching*Belting*Pushing, pulling*Slapping*Whipping*Striking with an object...
and psychological abuse
Psychological abuse
Psychological abuse, also referred to as emotional abuse or mental abuse, is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another to behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder...
recorded in U.S. prisons.
Screenings and Awards
- In-Doc Film Festival, Jakarta, Indonesia
- Athens International Film and Video Festival "Best Documentary"
- San Francisco Frozen Film FestivalS.F. Frozen Film FestivalThe San Francisco Frozen Film Festival was founded in 2006 to provide a forum for Bay Area Filmmakers to mingle and be exposed to Non-Bay Area Filmmakers, with the intention of creating a lasting and sustainable Bay Area Film Network that will continue to support and have a place to exhibit films...
- Big Muddy Film Festival "John Michaels Award"
- Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
- Southern Fried Flicks Film Festival
- Northampton Independent Film Festival
- Rural Route Film Festival
- One World Film Festival
See also
- Thousand KitesThousand KitesThousand Kites is a national project that works directly with stakeholders using communication strategies and campaigns to work toward prison reform through grassroots power...
- Red Onion State PrisonRed Onion State PrisonRed Onion State Prison is a supermax state prison located in unincorporated Wise County, Virginia, near Pound, operated by the Virginia Department of Corrections, it houses about 800 inmates. The prison opened in August, 1998 and is an identical facility to the Wallens Ridge State Prison in Big...
- Wallens Ridge State PrisonWallens Ridge State PrisonWallens Ridge State Prison is a supermax state prison located in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, housing approximately 700 inmates. Since opening in April 1999, it has been a part of the Virginia Department of Corrections, and is identical to the Red Onion State Prison near Pound. The prison was built for...
- Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuseAbu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuseBeginning in 2004, human rights violations in the form of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, including torture, rape, sodomy, and homicide of prisoners held in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq came to public attention...
- Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp
- AppalshopAppalshopAppalshop is a media, arts, and education center located in Whitesburg, Kentucky, in the heart of the southern Appalachian region of the United States....