RIKER'S HIGH
New York City’s Rikers Island Prison is the location of the city’s most extreme high school.
Two thousand teenagers, jailed for crimes that range from jumping subway turnstiles to armed robbery, attend ‘Austin MacCormack Island Academy’ – part of the official school system. In addition to an academic curriculum, the school offers poetry workshops, barbershop training and varsity sports. All of these activities take place behind eight rows of ribbon fence in one of the United States’ largest and most infamous jails. The Island Academy’s hope is that education will reduce the recidivism rate. Currently, eight of every 10 teenage inmates are re-arrested within a year of their release.
Rikers High was filmed during a semester at the Island Academy. After years of persuading jail authorities, the filmmakers, led by director Victor Buhler, obtained unprecedented access to the school and the jail. They filmed in dormitories known as “houses,” in classrooms and in inmates’ homes after they were released. The film focuses on three talented teenagers and examines whether their creativity can help them beat the odds in jail and on the streets.
- Release year:
- 2006
- Director:
- Victor Buhler
- Co production:
- France 2
- Running length:
- 60 / 90 minutes
- Production company:
- Rikers High LLC
- Prizes:
- Winner ’NY Loves Film’ Best Documentary Feature 2005 Tribeca Film Festival
“This grittily detailed, bittersweet film was deservedly rewarded by the Tribeca judges.” - New York Newsday
“Engaging and sharply detailed.” - New York Times
“ Filmmaker Victor Buhler achieves such an intimacy with his subjects behind bars you’d have thought he was one of the inmates.” - National Public Radio
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