Civil Brand (2002) on Netflix
Frances Shepard arrives at Whitehead Correctional, a women's prison, where inmates do hard labor in a sweatshop that earns the institution money and Captain Alan Dease sets the rules.
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- Netflix1.7/5
- IMDb5.1/10876 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes16%
Trailer
Plot summary
Sabrina rides the bus to Whitehead Correctional and watches Frances Shepard, new to prison, step inside for the first time. Captain Alan Dease assembles the arrivals to recite his rules. Frances is placed with Lil' Mama, a seventeen-year-old pregnant inmate who talks about her faith, and meets Wet, who explains the prison's crews. Nikki Barnes, presumed leader among the convicts, refuses to share her cell. Frances tells the other women she killed her abusive husband while defending herself. Each day the inmates perform hard labor in what they call a sweatshop, work that turns a profit for the prison. Michael Meadows, a law student, arrives as a correctional officer and meets Warden Nelson and Dease, who plan to increase what the prison earns.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Civil Brand (2002)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Director Neema Barnette's schedule was cut from 30 days to 15; the shoot shut down after 14 days with 21 scenes missing. She waited a year for extra shooting time, got one day to film 41 set-ups, and had Da Brat narrate more after Lions Gate gave her a week to edit.
- Civil Brand was intended to be shot in North Carolina, but state correction officials, afraid of the film's message about the prison complex, denied the script. Director Neema Barnette cut the disputed elements, and Tennessee officials approved the watered-down script, letting filming start in December 2000 at the Tennessee State Penitentiary.
- With a reduced budget and no wheelchair camera, Neema Barnette shot the cell block scenes in a static frame. To hide the empty courtyard and lack of extras playing inmates, she sectioned off one area and avoided reverse angles.
- Before shooting, director Neema Barnette interviewed women inmates from Los Angeles and North Carolina, and had her actresses go to a prison to research their roles.
