The Return

In 2012, California voters amended the state’s Three Strikes Law – one of the harshest criminal sentencing laws in the nation. Within days, the reintegration of thousands of “lifers” – men and women once expecting to die in prison – was underway. THE RETURN weaves together narratives of characters on the front lines of this unprecedented shift: prisoners suddenly freed, families reunited, attorneys and judges wrestling with an untested law, and reentry providers negotiating unfathomable transitions.

Nominated for a National Emmy for Outstanding Current Affairs Doc

Directed by: Kelly Duane/Katie Galloway

Edited & Co-Written by: Greg O’Toole

Premiere: Tribeca, 2016

Broadcast: POV, 2016

Awards: Audience Award for Best Doc, Tribeca; Winner Golden gate Award for Bay area Doc Feature

The Return “excels at maneuvering around complicated stories and finding the humanity underneath.”

- Kate Erbland, IndieWire

“The Return...opens up a world that most of society doesn’t want to think about but should.”

- Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times

“The briskly paced doc...vividly captures the psychological as well as logistical difficulties of re-adjusting to civilian life.”

- Variety