81 minutes / Color
English / English subtitles
Closed Captioned
Release: 2020
Copyright: 2019
When a courageous young woman and a radical lawyer discover a pattern of illegal sterilizations in California’s women’s prisons, they wage a near-impossible battle against the Department of Corrections. With a growing team of investigators inside prison working with colleagues on the outside, they uncover a series of statewide crimes -- from inadequate health care to sexual assault to coercive sterilizations -- primarily targeting women of color. This shocking legal drama captured over 7-years features extraordinary access and intimate accounts from currently and formerly incarcerated people, demanding attention to a shameful and ongoing legacy of eugenics and reproductive injustice in the United States.
BELLY OF THE BEAST is a co-production of Belly of the Beast LLC, Idle Wild Films Inc., Black Public Media (BPM) and Independent Television Service (ITVS), with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
"Shocking."
Washington Post
"Whistleblower testimonies, expert commentary and powerful archival footage are well-paced throughout the film and reveal a darker truth when it comes to advocating for the rights of incarcerated people: Those on the frontline are not only fighting bad actors who abuse their power, they are also battling a public that at best does not care and at worst condones it."
New York Times
"Harrowing."
NPR
"A powerful exposé of human rights abuses of women in the criminal justice system."
Human Rights Watch Film Festival
"Horrifying and fascinating all at once."
Screen Comment
"An exposé of modern-day eugenics in the United States."
Mill Valley Film Festival
"Erika Cohn's follow-up to her multi-award-winning THE JUDGE, tracks down a previously little-known story about enforced—and illegal—sterilization of female inmates in California's correctional facilities."
IDA
"Filmmaker Erika Cohn's BELLY OF THE BEAST tackles a tough subject — the forced sterilization of women inmates at a California prison — with journalistic fire and sensitive artistry."
Sean P. Means Salt Lake City Tribune
"It's like an onion, and you just keep peeling and seeing just layers and layers and layers of systemic injustice on so many intersectional levels...absolutely worth watching for students."
Beth Seymour ACT Human Rights Film Festival Managing Director
Cohn, Erika (film director)
Cohn, Erika (film producer)
Tucker, Angela (film producer)
Marquez, Christen Hepuakoa (film producer)
Docta, Nicole (film producer)
Editing, Tchavdar Georgiev, Jean Kawahara; cinematography, Clare Major, Bianca Travis Cline; music, Omar Fadel.
Selected Accolades
