Ten years ago, the Warden of Louisiana's Angola prison allowed film crews to shoot inside the walls of the nation's largest prison for a full year.
"The Farm," the documentary that came from that year-long project went on to win numerous national and international awards.
Tonight, a follow-up documentary to "The Farm" is set to air on the National Geographic Channel at 7:00 p.m.
Director Jonathan Stack says he though he shot the first movie in 12 months, this latest insight into Angola has been a decade-long project.
"I kept going back over the ten years, to sort of, stay in touch.. I kept filming little by little, and at a certain point, I thought, 'this is a film of its own right,' " Stack said.
Listen to WWL's Jay Vice's conversation with director Jonathan Stack:
Stack told WWL First News that many people who saw the first documentary were taken aback by Warden Burl Cain's relatively humane treatment of Angola prisoners.
"The first time around, people said, "is it really like that? Is the Warden really like that, is that really his approach?' And I think that after watching ten years, I can say, that is the truth."
According to Stack, after watching the workings of the prison from a first-hand perspective for a decade, Angola should be a model for how penal institutions should treat inmates.
"The value of treating inmates as human beings is that you end up with a place in which redemption and the possibility of human change, of rehabilitation is something very real," he said.
"The Farm: 10 Down" airs Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. on The National Geographic Channel.
To view the original documentary, "The Farm," click here.
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