Civil Brand

REVIEW
Hip-hop artists Mos Def, Da Brat, and MC Lyte hold their own in forceful performances alongside fellow cast members N'Bushe Wright, Clifton Powell, and LisaRaye in this courageous look at how contemporary American women's prisons are being exploited by major corporations as modern-day plantations with ready-made slave labor. Director Neema Barnette's tough film pulls no punches with its subject matter, but emerges as a truthful, confrontational look at a difficult issue. When a group of young African-American women incarcerated in a correctional facility discover that their labor is being used to help generate huge profits for a number of major corporations, they rebel, first by confiding in a trusting guard (Mos Def) who goes up against the power-hungry warden (Powell, in a searing performance). But when this doesn't provide the solution to their frustrations, they revolt and take over the prison. UCLA film professor Barnette's film was shut down mid-production when the investors became uneasy about her project's fearless willingness to confront major corporate interests. Barnette eventually raised the funds herself to complete the film, which has triumphed everywhere from its recent Sundance festival screening, to New York's Urbanworld festival, where it was awarded Best Feature Film.