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Prison Valley: a web documentary

  • 44 Comments

Fremont Residents Reactions to Prison Valley

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  1.  
     
    To Jacob Bouchard, Thank you for saying like it is and saying it so well.
  2.  
     
    GREAT JOB, at trying to make everyone in Fremont County look like Hell in a place so much like Hell. (according to the producers )
    I get the feeling the makers of this biased and insulting documentary have a personal vendetta
    against the people of Fremont County.
  3.  
     
    Interesting reactions so far. I think David's made a good case that this wasn't an attack on Canon City and Fremont County, or an attempt to put local people down. There are glimpses in the film that it is many respects just a normal place... but it does have an incredible number of jails and that's worth thinking and talking about.
    In Europe we're not used to prisons being as concentrated, as visible, as profit-driven as they are in Colorado. But what the film also shows is that in some European countries that's a false impression - inmates are being used as labour, are being paid low wages and are producing some of the products and services we buy.
    Do we think that's normal? Are there alternatives? I for one say no to the first and yes to the second.
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    Let me quickly address the "clean version of hell" as I have firsthand knowledge of this "quote." I don't know way it was used to describe Fremont County, Canon City or Florence. The quote actually came from a federal prison inmate at the ADX who was describing ONLY the ADX to a documentary program interviewer. It was never intended to be used to describe the community. I think a lot of this confusion comes from a cultural and communication difference between us and the journalists. We did have an interpreter for our conversations most of the time, but sometimes things are take out of context when different languages are communication through a third person.
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    First of all, we would like to thank, warmly, all the people from Fremont County who took the time to contribute to our forums and leave their testimonies.
    David and I always met people of Fremont County with benevolent interest. Let us first make something clear, our goal was not "trying to make everyone in Fremont County look like Hell".
    This documentary is not about judging any of its inhabitants from Canon City and Florence. The only thing we are trying to do with this documentary is to understand how a country can incarcerate one out of a hundred of its citizens. However we never said that local populations should feel responsible or guilty about it. The question of this documentary is how Fremont County could be almost a blueprint for what the future might look like. In other words, the question is not Fremont County but what it might foreshadow, or how it helps us have a better look at our present, in order to shape a better future. We have no doubt about the sincerity of its inhabitants, and we experienced first hand how most of the residents enjoyed living there and liked their community.
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    @bustanut : Let me add something. Vendetta is usually a word to say a feud between members of two kinship groups to avenge a wrong done to a relative. It generally reflects violence, murder and crime. It's sound really strange to use this term to talk about the relationship we had with the people of Fremont County. We have too much respect towards the different people who accepted to be interviewed. They have, on both of our visits in June and September 2009 shown how open-minded they were.
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    Phillipe, you say, "The question of this documentary is how Fremont County could be almost a blueprint for what the future might look like." And our response to that would be, "Would that be all that bad?!" Clearly, from your documentary and its judgements (yes, I said judgements. Regardless of your intent, there are judgements made.) you DO think it would be bad. Many would disagree.
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    @ JessDay : Thank you for your message. We did this documentary to understand a system. The prison system. Our only wish is to have people reflecting and discussing about this topic. In America like in France as well. It's every author's prerogative and part of its work. And of course we accept the point of view and the critics of others. Prison is not a trivial industry. It's a matter of points of view and perspectives.

    if you haven't already, please read the FAQ for more information :
    http://prisonvalley.arte.tv/en/forums/discussion/139/
  9.  
    • David Dufresne Prison Valley Team
    • May 21st 2010 (edited May 25th 2010)
     
    @Allen Rexford Dear Allen, first of all I’d like to thank you for taking part in the discussion. It was thrilling to see at work one of the ideas we really wanted to encourage through our web documentary, i.e. people being able to share their points of view and discuss with the film’s characters. Thank you so much.

    There’s some truth in what you say. This is the voice-over from the very beginning of the film: Ever since we read this sentence in the newspaper: “Cañon City is a clean version of hell.”

    The article we’re referring to is the one below and, as you know, we think it’s important to give sources for everything we write:
    http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/11/60minutes/main3357727.shtml
    It’s one of the few reports on Supermax and was shown on CBS’s ‘60 Minutes’.

    We talk about all this strory is this forum: http://prisonvalley.arte.tv/en/forums/discussion/4/background-information-for-the-supermax-discussion/

    When we use the expression (as you were completely correct in saying), the aim isn’t at all to point a finger at Cañon City and Fremont County, but instead to describe what the concentration of prisons in the town symbolises. It’s a question of interpretation, or – as you put it – cultural differences.

    When we use the word ‘hell’ later on in the film, http://prisonvalley.arte.tv/en/#/chapter-2/super8-motel/, we say:
    Back then, the locals clubbed together to buy land. And offer them to the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington. The whole town was rooting for this Federal jail. Desert and hell. Clean.

    As you can see, we are clearly talking about Supermax and the whole federal complex where you work. In truth, what we found interesting about the expression wasn’t the word ‘hell’ on its own; it was the juxtaposition of the words ‘clean’ and ‘hell’. It was the idea of a purified, sanitized world where more and more people are locked up.

    Once again, thank you so much.
  10.  
     
    This is a misleading and misinformed piece of work. I wouldn't even call this journalism. It is very onesided. The people behind these prison bars have committed crimes and are getting their due punishment. There are choices in life and they chose to commit crime.
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    It is a fact this film represents the town of canon city correctly. I am from colorado springs and skydive at the fremont county airport. I however do not go to or spend any money in canon city as you people creep me out just as you did when I was a kid and went there with my friend from west cliff. You must face the fact that canon city and florence were built in the incarceration of others. Prisons to canon city are like the military is to colorado springs. If there were no prisons fremont county would be as dead as the salt flats of utah. In the same no military no colorado springs.
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    @ Wendy Helnen Gandee. Making a dialog between authors, producers and viewers like we are doing is for us a new way for journalism. Let everybody speak out, even the harshest critics as well. We are happy to give you the possibility to give ground in this forum.
    And if you didn't, please read our FAQ for more information : http://prisonvalley.arte.tv/en/forums/discussion/139/
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    As a native of Canon, I appreciate your willingness to respond here. That said, I would like to challenge you further on a couple of ideas. First the idea that Florence is just a "stone throws away" from Canon isn't particularly convincing. While they are certainly in the same county and its fairly common for, they are two very distinct places. There were several times when you implied that footage was from Canon when it was in fact from Florence. I also think it's important to understand why people are upset by your lack of attention to Canon's various attractions. You make it seem in the documentary that without the Prison system, Canon City would have little if any reason to continue to exist. Efforts to point out its fabulous weather, scenery, and the like are, generally speaking, attempts to show that there is in fact more to Canon City and Fremont County than the prisons. Lastly, on the topic of the "orange" sequence, and I'm sure this has been pointed out before, but the only orange I actually saw in that parade was due to the fact that the Bronco's, Colorado's Amer-Football team, have blue and orange as their colors. In general I agree with your take on the Prison Industrial complex and I don't disagree with your take on the influence that the prison system has on my hometown. That said, your portrayal of the city itself was fairly inaccurate.
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    @cubobo13 Thank you for your post. As you know, we have already published a FAQ where you could read our answers: http://prisonvalley.arte.tv/en/forums/discussion/139/

    Two points: about Bronco's truck and the orange color. For sure, we know that! This is only a wink ,-) The other point is this: our movie is about Fremont county in general, not only Cañon City, but more of that Prison Valley talks about prison system. So, when you write that in general [you] agree with [our] take on the Prison Industrial complex , this is really the most important thing.

    Thank you again for coming and, please, if you want to talk about prison system and debate, you'are very welcome: http://prisonvalley.arte.tv/en/forums/

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