MIAMI FILM FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE

By Hasan Alshakhes

16 Bars is a feature-length music documentary film which tells the tale of four inmates in the Richmond city justice center. Legendary American rap artiste, Speech, also known as Todd Thomas, from the band Arrested Development, offers the inmates; Teddy, Anthony, Garland, and De’Vontea once in a lifetime opportunity to record an album under his tutelage.

Hip-hop rap, historically known as the music of the black American street and popularly known for its depictions of the struggles of the Black American youth is the primary music genre employed by these inmates in expressing themselves. Through the verses which they rap, we are given an insight into the tales and deep seeded feelings of these inmates. The stories of what might have been had the inmates decided to tow a different path, the painful regrets they constantly battle with are all shared with the viewers as Teddy, Anthony, Garland and De’Vonte make music recordings in a makeshift studio on the facilities of the Richmond City Justice Center.

These four very different imprisoned men who have come to the prison from various walks of life from decent upbringings to abject poverty and homelessness collaborate with Speechm, a Grammy award-winning artiste, to tell their stories through music.

The documentary is very relevant in that without it, the stories of these men would otherwise have been locked away with little or no chances of being told. The Journey to telling these stories is however not in any way easy. We see one of the inmates who is a part of the project, Anthony, struggle heavily with self-doubt and his quick temper. He fumbles over and over in times when he gets the chance to rap his lines in front of Speech.

The journey is also exciting too. We see another inmate who is part of the project, Garland tells jokes at his own expense, saying; Garland When he was little all he wanted was to grow up and be a bouncer in a strip club.

Breaking the usual norm of depicting prison inmates as monsters or animals, the film shows Teddy, Anthony, Garland and De’Vonte to be men who are facing the responsibility of their misdeeds. Signing up for a number of programmes on the sixth-floor pod of the Richmond city justice center such as anger management training and classes as well as studio recordings under the guidance of Speech we get to travel into the lives of Teddy, Anthony, Garland and De’vonte.

It is revealed to us that Teddy is determined to reform his life after being in and out of jail from age ten to thirty-seven. Anthony tries to tame his hair-trigger rage so he can heal from a childhood full of violence and broken trust. De’Vonte who is weeks away from release is still uncertain on how he’ll keep his life on track. Garland on his own part romanticized the idea of the desperado. But in his heart, he’s exhausted from chronic addiction and the disappointment of relapse. Through the film also we see the highly regimented life the inmates are made to live behind the bars of the Richmond city justice center.

We see that practically every minute of the inmates day is directed by detention staff and supervisors. Speech, who is the visitor in this environment, is almost like a vessel as he learns more about the plight of the inmates and the happenings behind the walls of the prison yard . One may also say that Speech’s journey to the prison is also a story in itself and so along with the inmate’s story, we’re also following speech’s story.

The film further explores the reason why the inmates are in jail. How they got there. We get to learn that it goes deeper than just the crime they committed. The reason why these inmates are behind prison walls are revealed to range from mental health and addiction to generational trauma and abuse, and environmental forces like poverty and gang violence. The inmates reveal to us the events from their past that led them to choose the part which they did that led them behind the prison walls.

The music produced by these inmates; Teddy, Anthony, Garland and De’vonte ranges from rap to gospel and country music, all of which unearth the dark and deep past of these inmates.

16 Bars film goes deep and reveals the aspects of the United States of America Criminal Justice System that is not seen every day in mainstream media. Overall the movie makes for a fascinating watch. It is highly entertaining as well as educating. The viewer is exposed to a world that he is otherwise locked away from. The world of the men behind the bars of the American justice system. The viewer is delighted as well as frustrated by the journey of the telling of the tale of Teddy, Anthony, Garland and De’vonte. One has a lot of lessons to pick from the tales of these characters. Its unconventional nature is perhaps the reason why the movie makes a great watch.