At Night I Fly: Learning to Live While Doing Life in Prison

"Filmmaker Michel Wenzer isn't interested in the lurid fare that typifies popular depictions of prison. He is interested in how some inmates manage to find a way to live and to grow in a place of desolation. For the men profiled in Wenzer's documentary At Night I Fly: Images from New Folsom, salvation comes in the form of self-examination and artistic engagement, helped along by the remnants of California's once-thriving Arts In Corrections program. We talked about Michel's experience filming in New Folsom (younger sibling of the original Folsom Prison) and the life lessons we could all learn from some of the lifers he met. I played some clips from At Night I Fly and also some bits of interviews I've done over the years with prison artists, including the poet Spoon Jackson, who was the inspiration for Michel's film.