Documentary
In prisons ruled by toxic masculinity, dancing is an absolute taboo. But at Lancaster’s A-Yard, near Los Angeles, a group of young men, willing to take a chance to be mocked in the yard, start a dance class led by French choreographer Dimitri Chamblas. This class quickly becomes an intoxicating escape from their grim reality so they decide to create a dance show. In this exceptional context, the inmates engage with overwhelming sincerity, evoking their childhood, ganglife, the crimes, the prison, and their desire for transformation. Beyond damaged lives and a prison system on the edge of the abyss, DANCING IN A-YARD explores redemption and the capacity of human beings to reinvent themselves, when given a chance. And more importantly, how art and introspection can help see the light.
MOVIE COMMENTS
SIMILAR MOVIES
Julius Shulman: Desert Modern
Dance for All
Nureyev Unzipped
Zoot Suit Riots
Strip Down, Rise Up
Bowery
Fabulous
Madonna: Truth or Dare
The Cat That Changed America
Gutiérrez: Una deuda pendiente
Ascension
El Almafuerte
The Big One
what do feet carry?
True Justice: Bryan Stevenson's Fight for Equality
Milestone No. 3
Paulette
Doll Parts
Wir Werden Immer Weitergehen
Daughter of Mobius
SIMILAR MOVIES
Julius Shulman: Desert Modern
IMDB 0 | Jan , 2008
Julius Shulman: Desert Modern focuses on Shulman's remarkable 70-year documentation of the renowned Mid-Century Modern architecture of the Palm Springs area/ Shulman, at the age of 97, describes with humor and insight his artistic intentions and the back-story to some of his most legendary photographs. He is joined by noted architectural historian Alan Hess and Michael Stern, co-authors of the book, "Julius Shulman: Palm Springs". Stern is also curator of the "Julius Shulman: Palm Springs" exhibition which originated at the Palm Springs Art Museum in February 2008. The flm showcases Shulman's inspired photography of the architecture of Richard Neutra, Albert Frey, John Lautner, E. Stewart Williams, Palmer and Krisel and William Cody, among others. E. Stewart Williams' Frank Sinatra House is featured, as well as Richard Neutra's Kaufmann House, one of the most famous homes in America, largely due to Shulman's iconic 1947 photograph.Dance for All
IMDB 0 | Sep , 2007
Nureyev Unzipped
IMDB 0 | Apr , 1998
Narrated by Terence Stamp, this TV program documents the life and career of famed ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, through interviews with friends and colleagues and archive footage.Zoot Suit Riots
IMDB 0 | Mar , 2002
On August 1, 1942, a 22-year-old Mexican American man was stabbed to death at a party. To white Los Angelenos, the murder was just more proof that Mexican American crime was spiraling out of control. The police fanned out across LA, netting 600 young Mexican American suspects. Almost all those taken into custody were wearing the distinctive uniform of their generation: Zoot Suits. The tragic murder and the injustice of the trial that followed, coupled with sensational news coverage of both, fanned the flames of the racial hostility that was already running rife in the city. Within months of the verdict, Los Angeles was in the grip of some of the worst violence in its history.Strip Down, Rise Up
IMDB 6.5 | Feb , 2021
The feature documentary follows women of all walks of life, all ages and ethnic backgrounds, as they shed trauma, body image shame, sexual abuse and other issues locked in their bodies, and embark on a journey to reclaim themselves. The film also gives a rare window into the world of Pole artistry and expression.Bowery
IMDB 9 | Jun , 2022
A compelling portrait of New Yorkers living on the streets as they struggle with mental health, addiction, and the onset of a global pandemic. This powerful documentary offers an unfiltered, at times mesmerizing glimpse into life on the margins, drawing viewers into the raw, human stories behind a deepening crisis.Fabulous
IMDB 6.5 | Jun , 2019
Ninja is famous around the world for her fierce ballroom performances, but she is not as well-known in her native country of French Guyana. But a trip home to teach a workshop might change that.Madonna: Truth or Dare
IMDB 6.2 | May , 1991
From the rains of Japan, through threats of arrest for 'public indecency' in Canada, and a birthday tribute to her father in Detroit, this documentary follows Madonna on her 1990 'Blond Ambition' concert tour. Filmed in black and white, with the concert pieces in glittering MTV color, it is an intimate look at the work of the icon, from a prayer circle before each performance to bed games with the dance troupe afterwards.The Cat That Changed America
IMDB 0 | Feb , 2017
P22 is the most famous cat in America, a mountain lion who lives in Griffith Park in the middle of LA. This is his amazing story.Gutiérrez: Una deuda pendiente
IMDB 7 | Jul , 2024
Ascension
IMDB 0 | Sep , 2015
In Jacob Sutton’s film “Ascension”, two young dancers soar up from the darkness beneath the stage at Bastille to the sumptuous Grand Foyer and eventually to the rooftop of the Palais Garnier, where they experience moments of heavenly, dreamlike luminosity.El Almafuerte
IMDB 10 | Apr , 2026
The youngsters housed in the "Almafuerte" Maximum Security Juvenile Institute have their first approach to audiovisual recording. A film and documentary video workshop serves as an excuse for them to make a short film inside the prison. The camera is a rabid toy that generates fascination in them and rescues a sheltered, innocent smile that seemed forgotten under the shadows. While inside libertarian cries bounce against the walls, outside sounds fanfares of an iron fist.The Big One
IMDB 6.6 | Sep , 1997
The Big One is an investigative documentary from director Michael Moore who goes around the country asking why big American corporations produce their product abroad where labor is cheaper while so many Americans are unemployed, losing their jobs, and would happily be hired by such companies as Nike.what do feet carry?
IMDB 7 | May , 2024
We follow two boy dancers who describe their relationship with dance and how they feel about being boys in a world that is seen as "feminine" from the outset, and that it is possible for men to have different values and different relationships with dance.True Justice: Bryan Stevenson's Fight for Equality
IMDB 7.4 | Jun , 2019
An intimate portrait of Alabama public interest attorney Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, who for more than three decades has advocated on behalf of the poor, the incarcerated and the condemned, seeking to eradicate racial discrimination in the criminal justice system.Milestone No. 3
IMDB 10 | Nov , 2025
Milestone No. 3 is a documentary following three lifelong friends as they travel across the country to California for the very first time. Armed with doubts and anxiety about continuing his filmmaking career, director Nicholas Dapolito enlists the help of friends and family to examine why he creates, and if this path is truly right for him.Paulette
IMDB 7 | Feb , 2021
A short documentary following Paulette Harwood, a 90-year-old former Radio City Music Hall Corps de Ballet soloist, as she teaches the final classes in a school she's run for sixty years.Doll Parts
IMDB 0 | Jan , 2013
London-based artist and photographer Muzi Quawson examines the lives of people situated at the fringes of the mainstream. She is drawn to individuals who tend to assert their identity via a blending of references informed by cinema, music and the history of popular culture. Doll Parts functions as a quiet study on the nature of identity.Wir Werden Immer Weitergehen
IMDB 7 | Nov , 2012
Music as a counter-project to a bourgeois existence: Musicians, club and label operators, record store owners and other music lovers talk about how, despite social and economic constraints, they realize their very different, bohemian and sometimes precarious life projects on the sidelines - and always go on. Detailed essays, experience reports, portraits and interviews are dedicated to the alternative music and club scene in Berlin and Hamburg.Daughter of Mobius
IMDB 0 | Jan , 1981
Daughter of Mobius shows the struggles of an independent women living in the early 80s - an era when it was much more difficult for women to be independent. The movie follows a 29-year-old single woman - who at the time was the object of social prejudices - through her daily life, showing the sights of Seoul in the early 80s and the life of the woman, in documentary style.