Documentary 13th Screens at The St. Louis Public Library February 4th

13th screens Saturday, February 11th at The St. Louis Public Library Central Branch (1301 Olive Street St. Louis) at 1pm as part a documentary series that focuses on incarceration in the United States. This is a FREE event.

The title of Ava DuVernay’s extraordinary and galvanizing documentary refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which reads “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.” The progression from that second qualifying clause to the horrors of mass criminalization and the sprawling American prison industry is laid out by DuVernay with bracing lucidity. With a potent mixture of archival footage and testimony from a dazzling array of activists, politicians, historians, and formerly incarcerated women and men, DuVernay creates a work of grand historical synthesis.

The critics love 13th:

TIME Magazine says:

“13th … is dense with information, and it moves fast. But it’s also a story told in images, and the ones DuVernay has chosen ring not just with sadness and horror but also cautious optimism.”

The Film Stage said:

“13th speaks to a populace jaded by the status quo and encourages them to reexamine their own preconceptions and prejudices.”

Detroit News says:

“It’s all very alarming and upsetting and terrifying.”