Shakespeare Behind Bars

A Shakespeare company works within the bars of a Kentucky prison rehearse and perform The Tempest over the course of one year.

Film Signature Image
Premiere Date
April 19, 2006
Length
90 minutes
Funding Initiative
Open Call
  • Award laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    2005 River's Edge Film Festival-Audience Award
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    2005 Bluegrass Film Festival, Kentucky-Director's Choice Award
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    2005 Independent Film Festival Boston-Special Jury Prize for a Documentary Feature
  • Award laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    2005 Bluegrass Film Festival, Kentucky-Best Documentary Honorable Mention
  • Award laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    2005 Bluegrass Film Festival, Kentucky-Best Regional Film
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    2005 Bend Film Festival-Best of Show
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    2005 Orinda Film Festival-Audience Award
  • Award laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    2007 Beliefnet Film Awards-Best Spiritual Documentary
  • Producer

    Hank Rogerson

    Hank Rogerson works primarily with Jilann Spitzmiller, with whom he made Homeland; Our Youth, Our Future; Bless Me with a Good Life; and worked on the Discovery Health Channel series Medical Diary. His past work includes cinematography on Rocks with Wings, a film about the Navajo Lady Chieftains basketball team and assistant camera work on several films Show more including Surfer Girl, a documentary about the world’s top five women surfers. Hank is also an accomplished actor whose work has appeared on television and in film. His favorite roles include Peter Jones in The Butter and Egg Man, and Pierrot in The Orange Orange. Show less

    Other ITVS Films
    Homeland
    Producer

    Jilann Spitzmiller

    Jilann Spitzmiller works primarily with Hank Rogerson, with whom she made Homeland; Our Youth, Our Future; Bless Me with a Good Life; and worked on the Discovery Health Channel series Medical Diary. Jilann’s past projects include Hecel Oyakapi: They Tell It This Way, produced for actor and activist James Cromwell; a music video for Indigo Girls, which is Show more included in their biographical documentary Watershed; and Thoroughbred Pursuit, a documentary about her father Walt Spitzmiller, a world-renowned sports artist. Jilann is also a cinematographer, writer, and painter. Show less

    Other ITVS Films
    Homeland

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    The Film

    Shakespeare Behind Bars follows the members of an all-male Shakespeare company working within the bars of a Kentucky prison as they rehearse and perform The Tempest over the course of one year. Within the rigid context of prison, Shakespeare's timeless themes provide a catalyst for the inmates to examine their pasts with remarkable candor, testing the power of truth, change, and forgiveness.

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