Out of State
Out of State follows native Hawaiian inmates who are sent to a private prison thousands of miles away in the desert of Arizona, and practice their native culture while working to rehabilitate their relationships with their families.
- Filmmaker(s)
- Ciara Leinaʻala Lacy
- Beau Bassett
- Category
- Full-Length Film
- Subject Matter
- Identity, Culture, Crime & Justice
- Region
- Polynesia
- Length
- 60 Minutes
- Year
- 2015
- Website
- https://outofstatefilm.com/
In 2007, the state of Hawaiʻi outsourced the care of roughly two thousand of its male prisoners to a private, for-profit prison on the continental U.S. Now, deep in the desert of Arizona, exiled thousands of miles across the ocean from their island home, a group of indigenous Hawaiian inmates have discovered their calling on the inside––teaching each other their native language and dances while behind bars. As several of the men complete their sentences, the film follows their reintegration back home in Hawaiʻi.
Out of State explores complex questions of cultural and religious identity; the over abundance of native Hawaiians and minorities in the prison system; the cycle of criminal behavior and its impact on the family; and prisoner entitlement in an hour-long, character-driven documentary.
CIARA LACY - Producer
Ciara Lacy has produced, directed, or written non-fiction TV for PBS, ABC, TLC, Discovery, Bravo, and A&E as well as produced rock-documentaries with theatrical distribution for Dave Matthews, My Morning Jacket, and O.A.R. Ciara is a current Sundance Institute Time Warner Fellow and Firelight Media Producing Fellow, a 2014 Tribeca All Access Awardee, a 2013 Princess Grace Foundation Awardee, and a 2012 Sundance Institute NativeLab Director Fellow. Ciara holds a BA in psychology from Yale University and is a graduate of the Kamehameha Schools in Hawaii. She is proficient in the Hawaiian language and grew up dancing hula.
BEAU BASSETT - Producer
Filmmaker Beau Bassett's experience represents the intersection of Hawai`is justice system, filmmaking, and native Hawaiian culture. Having practiced law as a Deputy Public Defender for over six years, Beau has counseled innumerable clients in Honolulu's criminal courts. An active member of the Hawaiian community, Beau is a graduate of the Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and is fluent in the Hawaiian language. As a filmmaker, Beau created his first short film, Tewetewe, in 2006 for PBS broadcast, and was accepted as a 2008 producing fellow to the Sundance Institute's Native American and Indigenous Program. He currently practices law in Honolulu.
