Films and DVDs

Films about imprisonment/unjust imprisonment and those struggling to free the innocent

• Goodbye Bafana/the Colour of Freedom 2007

  Set in South Africa, this is the story of James Gregory whose childhood friendship with a black youth changes under apartheid to suspicion and hatred of black Africans. He agrees to spy on Nelson Mandela, working as a censor in a high security prison. Witnessing atrocities against blacks and reading Mandela's correspondence he changes his mind again and pays a high price for his convictions.

• Schindler's List 1993

  This film follows the story of Oscar Schindler, a German businessman who owned a factory. Discovering the horrifying extent of the Holocaust he uses his factory and risks his life to save Jewish people from death.

• The Shawshank Redemption 1994

  Protesting his innocence, Andy Dufresne is sent to Shawshank prison to serve a life term. Here he befriends a fellow prisoner called Red and tries to cope with prison life without losing either his integrity or hope in the future.

• Murder in the First 1995

  Henri Young was convicted for stealing $5 from a post office and sent to Alcatraz, the most secure jail for the most dangerous criminals. After trying to escape he was sent to solitary in a dungeon for more than three years. Coming out he was completely dehumanised and killed a man. The film follows his lawyer's attempts to defend him and led to the dungeons of Alcatraz being closed as inhuman and degrading.

• The Green Mile 1999

  The guards on the Green Mile look after prisoners on death row. John Coffey arrives accused of rape and murder. The guards learn that there is more to Coffey than meets the eye – and he has the gift of healing.

• True Crime, 1999

  A washed up alcoholic reporter with a difficult home life interviews a man who is about to be executed for killing a pregnant woman. He becomes convinced that the prisoner is innocent, but no one believes him. And there is very little time for him to prove he is right.

• Spy Game 2001

  Nathan Muir, about to retire from the CIA, finds out that his protégé is in a Chinese jail for trying to rescue the woman he loves from there. He is going to be shot and the American government don't want to attempt a rescue as it will ruin their trade negotiations with the Chinese. Somehow Muir has to find a way to help his friend before he finally leaves the service.

• Proof of Life 2000

  An American is kidnapped by anti-government guerrillas in South America. His wife, not knowing who to trust or whether she will ever see her husband again, hires a private negotiator to try and arrange his release.

• The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas 2008

  Bruno is eight and the son of the commandant at a concentration camp. He makes friends with a Jewish boy, Shmuel, on the other side of the fence. When Bruno makes his way into the camp to join his friend he finds out the truth about what the camp is for.

• Buried 2010

  A man working in Iraq wakes to find that he has been taken hostage and has been buried alive. He has a working phone, but who can he call to help and who will come to find him?

• Rendition 2007

  After a terrorist attack, an Egyptian man married to an American is grabbed, interrogated and tortured. A CIA operative who witnesses the interrogation is forced to question the methods and ideas used to protect against terrorism.

TV Series

• Prison Break

  An innocent man is sent to death row. His brother intends to release him by deliberately getting sent to the same prison in order to break both of them out.