Belly of the Beast
82 mins
When a courageous young woman and a radical lawyer discover a pattern of illegal involuntary sterilizations in California’s women’s prison system, they take to the courtroom to 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 dangerously inadequate health care to sexual assault to coercive sterilizations - primarily targeting women of color. But no one believes them. This shocking legal drama captured over seven years features extraordinary access and intimate accounts from currently and formerly incarcerated women, demanding our attention to a shameful and ongoing legacy of eugenics and reproductive injustice in the United States.
Clare Major
Director of Photography
Greg Lanesey
Digital Intermediate Producer
Erika Cohn
Director
Mark Lipson
Executive Producer
Angela Tucker
Producer
Patty Quillin
Executive Producer
Doree Friedman
Executive Producer
Nicole Docta
Producer
Blye Pagon Faust
Executive Producer
Diane Philips
Executive Producer
Erika Cohn
Producer
Brittney Shepherd
Co-Producer
Lois Vossen
Executive Producer
Tchavdar Georgiev
Editor
Sally Jo Fifer
Executive Producer
Jean Kawahara
Editor
Bianca Cline
Director of Photography