The POV (Point of View) series on PBS premiered this film on May 23. Check local listings for television repeats of the film.
More than 1.5 million Americans are serving time in state and federal prisons and more than 6.8 million are under some kind of correctional supervision. According to the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice statistics, approximately 636, 300 prisoners are released back into communities every year.
In 2012, a major change took place in prisons with the passage in California of Prop. 36. It amended the notorious "Three Strikes" law which imprisoned more than 10,000 people — for life — as punishment for often petty crimes. This was the first time that citizens voted to shorten the sentences of those incarcerated.
The Return won the Audience Award for a documentary at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. Kelly Duane de la Vega and Katie Galloway directed this rounded examination of the changes brought about by this reform through a look at the transformed lives of two African-American prisoners, the challenges they and their families face, the work of re-entry providers, and the burdens placed on attorneys and judges as they struggle with a new law.
While watching this helpful and hopeful documentary, we were buoyed by the feeling that the United States' national culture of punishment could be a thing of the past along with the false idea that the country will benefit if we only keep on locking up all criminals and throwing away the key.