"Do Not Attempt to Communicate with the Inmates" - Two Films about Jail Uprisings in STL, MO

‘DO NOT ATTEMPT TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE INMATES THROUGH THE FENCE’

Come watch two surreal video compilations of media footage of revolts that have occurred inside and outside of two jails in St. Louis, Missouri over the course of 8 years. Both films seek to deepen the discussion of what actual jail and prison abolition means.

WE’RE TOO HOT -
follows a demonstration in 2017 at the city’s former holdover facility: the Workhouse. It was sparked by a heatwave that sent temperatures inside the A/C-less jail into the 110s. In 2021, the Workhouse was closed after a long campaign against it, but this has left the equally notorious second jail, the Justice Center, to pick up the slack. 6 mins

Breaking the Fourth Wall (or A Justice Center
Recruitment Video) -
is a slog that seeks to keep up with the comical and particularly appalling management of the Justice Center, which has seen a scandalous amount of “disturbances,” riots, hostage takings and full-on uprisings over the last 5 years. As well as, 18 prisoner deaths in that time. Approx. 26 minutes