The Attica Prison riot, immortalized by Al Pacino’s rebellious refrain in Sidney Lumet’s “Dog Day Afternoon,” became a rallying cry against overzealous policing.
Yet with the death of each participant, the exact events at Attica, the largest prison rebellion in US history, have begun to fade in the unforgiving ether of time.
In “Attica,” co-directors Stanley Nelson (“The Murder Of Emmett Till”) and Traci A.
Curry interview the remaining survivors: the former inmates and the family of the now-deceased prison guards to recall an incident during which self-respect was demanded but tragedy soon followed.The uprising occurred September 9, 1971 on the grounds of the inhuman prison practices used by prison officials.
1,200 inmates took over the prison, taking 42 people hostage.
The conflict lasted for five days, resulting in 29 inmates and 10 hostages dead.
It led to murder, created villains and heroes, and uncovered the inequities that existed between races then, and still,
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