Watch: Short Film TIME Takes A Different Look At Prison

When the words 'prison film' are thrown around we often have certain expectations about what that's going to be like: intense, violent, certainly uncomfortable, perhaps introspective and humanistic. This pendulum often swings hard to the left (The Shawshank Redemption) or hard to the right (Oz). Shows like Orange Is The New Black and Rectify have certainly offered us more humorous and philosophic avenues to explore.

Filmmaker Theodore Collatos was featured back in my old Indie Beat column with his short docudrama Berlin Day To Night. And today I'd like to highlight a new short of his, Time.

Intercutting between six inmates in three cells in a correctional center, the film focuses on the camaraderie and support that can be cultivated under such devastating circumstances. For dealing with the passing and nature of time itself can be the biggest adversary of all. Collatos' film blurs lines between documentary and fiction, questioning the system of filmmaking itself, while also addressing the roots of another system entirely. These men are portrayed as intelligent, empathetic figures, trying to understand their choices in life, attempting to debunk stereotypes.

The results are charming, somber and all too human.

Watch below.