A storytelling workshop in Arkansas helps death row inmates find their voice — until the state suddenly schedules execution dates for its participants.
Teachers and artists enter Arkansas prisons to help death row inmates share their stories on stage.
But when the state rushes to execute them before its lethal drugs expire, the project takes on new weight.
These last words become more than performances — they challenge us to see the condemned not as statistics, but as storytellers with something vital to say.
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. As public confidence in the fairness of the justice system wanes, this documentary sounds a vital alarm and asks us to listen and see beyond the label of "criminal."
Set in Arkansas during a rushed plan to execute eight men in ten days, the film follows a team of artists and educators helping death row inmates write and share their life stories.
Through writing and performance, condemned men reclaim their humanity and force audiences to confront theirs. This documentary gives voice to those we're taught to forget.
"Being on death row we write a lot. Our connection to the world is via the pen."Excerpt from 'On the Row' performance
Founded in 2013 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the Prison Story Project gives incarcerated women and men a chance to explore their truth through poetry, storytelling, and creative writing. Their work is curated into a staged reading, performed first for the writers themselves — an INSIDE performance — and then for the public — an OUTSIDE performance.
The very first staged reading was presented on October 4, 2012, for a class of women writers in a Northwest Arkansas correctional facility. Since then, the project has grown to serve men and women incarcerated in Fayetteville and Pine Bluff — and, in 2016, the men of Arkansas's death row at Varner Prison.
The average sentence on Arkansas's death row runs 30 years, most of it in solitary confinement for 23 to 24 hours a day.
On the Row, the staged reading built from the men's writing, began touring after the 2017 executions. A filmed performance in Wichita, Kansas — recorded at an Episcopal church — became part of the raw material for this documentary, and the project still screens the recording for church and community groups today.
At the heart of the film is Kathy McGregor — a professional storyteller with more than 30 years of experience, and a lifelong belief that story has the power to heal. She turned her attention behind prison walls, determined to amplify voices that had been silenced by incarceration.
David is a bridge — between the classroom and the prison cell, between academia and lived experience. He reads the words of men on death row in public staged performances, lending his voice to those who cannot be there to speak for themselves.
Matt Henriksen didn't set out to teach poetry on death row. But when the writing found its way behind bars, he followed it. With his deep love of language, he helped others find their voice on the page.
The film centers on the words of three men whose cases diverged in April 2017 — one executed, one stayed at the eleventh hour, one still on death row today.
Scheduled for execution April 17, 2017. Received a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court — the sixth stay of his case. His writing sits at the center of the film's opening question: what does closure mean when the condemned man is ready to die?
Sought DNA testing that had never been conducted on evidence in his case. Received a stay in April 2017 and remains on Arkansas's death row. His story asks what happens when the legal system itself cannot agree on the truth.
Executed April 27, 2017. His final letter — read whole, then in fragments — carries the film's climax.
Documentary producer with a background in nonprofit storytelling. Her passion for adventure has taken her to a diverse range of environments with her camera — from remote archaeological projects in the desert southwest to historical explorations on the high plains of Kansas.
Documentary producer with a background in cinematography. He focuses on visually driven, socially impactful stories prioritizing art and nature. After witnessing the powerful staged performance, he was deeply moved to document the 2017 Arkansas executions through the lens of the Prison Story Project.
"This is for the good — to give voice to our stories. God willing you'll be heard beyond these walls and be a source of light for the injustice in the criminal justice system."Excerpt from 'On the Row' performance
This documentary — currently in post-production — follows the Prison Story Project, a group of artists and educators who help men on death row in Arkansas write and share their life stories through staged performances.
As we hear from the team about how the project began and see powerful moments from these performances, the film takes a dramatic turn when in April 2017 the state schedules the execution of eight men in just ten days.
The urgency and emotional weight of this moment echo far beyond prison walls — impacting the team, challenging public perception, and revealing the human cost of capital punishment.
The focus on the inmates' writings and the work of the Prison Story Project team to elevate and bring their voices to life is the focal point of the film. The final staged readings and hand-drawn illustrations are interwoven, complementing the narrative.
Time-lapsed and animated — the visual language for everything the camera cannot follow inside.
An inmate's letter, hand-drawn and animated with a write-on reveal — the pen appearing to move across the page as the voiceover plays. Only genuinely handwritten originals are treated this way; typed letters return as voice-only echoes instead.
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