Beyond the Wall

Beyond the Wall offers a stirring portrait of life after prison, as it follows five formerly incarcerated men who are attempting to rebuild their lives on the outside, with little support from our criminal justice system. The film reveals a reality that runs against the grain of conventional wisdom and established public policies governing reentry.

While recently released individuals navigate an anemic system of re-entry procedures in the institutions of the criminal justice system, the reality is that survival requires maneuvering through the informal and often chaotic world of the streets. These men have to knit together for themselves the very services and supports that the state re-entry system starkly lacks.

To remain crime-free and drug-free after release, prisoners must relinquish their old lives and build new ones. Through personal stories of re-entry- including relapse, recovery and redemption- Beyond the Wall puts a human face on the social, economic and emotional barriers encountered by returning citizens. In bearing witness to their struggles, we are offered insights and hope for ways prison re-entry can be more successful. Beyond the Wall humanizes the social, economic and emotional barriers encountered by citizens (and their families) returning to their communities following incarceration.