The Alabama Solution: "A lot of people say there’s no way to understand this without seeing it for yourself. People are starved for information about what’s really happening inside prisons."

In this vHopeful Conversation, Vanessa Hope speaks with Oscar-nominated co-directors Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman about The Alabama Solution, exploring how an initial visit to film a prison revival in Alabama evolved into a six-year collaboration with incarcerated organizers exposing a deadly, intentionally opaque prison system. They discuss the ethical stakes of working inside an authoritarian structure, the decision to center incarcerated men as co-authors using contraband cell phone footage, and the craft choices that give the film a propulsive, thriller-like shape without reducing a humanitarian crisis to true-crime entertainment. The pair reflect on building deep trust with subjects like Sandy Ray, navigating the risks their whistleblowing participants face, and the creative friction that shaped the edit, while also describing the film’s growing impact in Alabama and beyond as a tool for public awareness, legal advocacy, and collective action against mass incarceration. Get full access to Dream of a Better World at vanessahope.substack.com/subscribe