Belly of the Beast

Documentary · 2020

When a courageous young woman and a radical lawyer discover a pattern of illegal involuntary sterilizations in California’s women’s prison system, they take to the courtroom to wage a near-impossible battle against the Department of Corrections. With a growing team of investigators inside prison working with colleagues on the outside, they uncover a series of statewide crimes - from dangerously inadequate health care to sexual assault to coercive sterilizations - primarily targeting women of color. But no one believes them. This shocking legal drama captured over seven years features extraordinary access and intimate accounts from currently and formerly incarcerated women, demanding our attention to a shameful and ongoing legacy of eugenics and reproductive injustice in the United States.

Starring

Mark Lipson, Kelly Dillon, Cynthia Chandler, Tchavdar Georgiev, Corey Johnson, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Sally Jo Fifer, Courtney Hooks, Lois Vossen

Director

Erika Cohn

Producer

Nicole Docta