Cruel & Unusual

Item #: V134

Imagine being a woman in a men's prison. Alluvial Filmworks presents an award-winning and shocking documentary film - Cruel & Unusual.
This documentary is an unflinching examination of transgender women in men's prisons. Five individuals describe their experiences undergoing inhumane and humiliating treatment including rape, violence, solitary confinement and denial of medical care.

These women don't deny they must serve their sentences, but are the human rights of these women violated? Should transgender inmates get medical treatment in prison? Should they receive female hormones, counseling or sexual reassignment surgery? Despite their crimes, this documentary asks if the punishment for their crime is indeed Cruel & Unusual.


"A remarkable and essential work... I can affirm that everyone needs to hear and see this film's crucial, disturbing and ehtralling story."
- Scott Long, Director, LGBT RIGHTS PROGRAM, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

"This moving and thoughtful documentary raises awareness about the abuse, isolation and poor medical care faced by transgender prisoners"
- Elizabeth Alexander, Executive Director, ACLU NATIONAL PRISON PROJECT

"This searing documentary of how correctional institutions treat transgender prisoners is as necessary as it is shocking. It's necessary because transgender people are three times more likely than non trans folk to spend time behind bars. As one former inmate says, "I couldn't get a job with the name Linda, I wasn't welcome in the homeless shelters … what else could I do but steal?" The indignities outside pale compared to life on the inside, where a prisoner's gender identity is simply not recognized, and a trans woman with male genitalia is housed with the male population. Not only are these women easy targets for violence and sexual predation, their unique medical needs go unmet. Some of the women profiled recall the frustration of putting off hormone therapy for years while serving their sentences. Others, already taking hormones, were not allowed to continue their treatment in jail and had to suffer the pains of cold turkey withdrawal. Few encounter sympathy from prison staff — one woman recalls a prison doctor's smirking prediction that she would end up a suicide — and the best safety from bullying that most prisons can offer is to move trans inmates to solitary confinement, where they can spend months or years with almost no human contact. It's a grim picture that adds up to cruel and unusual punishment, which is supposedly prohibited by the Eighth Amendment. The documentary's subjects share their heartbreaking stories with dignity, candor and even hope."
- Brian Jewell, Bay Windows

"You can't look at this documentary and not be moved to tears or anger over such ignorance and bigotry."
- Blade GLBT Newsmagazine


Running Time: 1 hour
Director: Janet Baus, Dan Hunt, Reid Williams
Rating: Not Available
Studio: Alluvial Filmworks
Starring: Not Available