Daughters

With surprising access both inside and outside of prison, this heartrending documentary touches on a range of personal and social topics solely through its subjects' words and experiences. Daughters makes its commentary through its topic choice and its filming and editing, rather than any added editorializing about the circumstances around the incarcerated dads and their growing daughters. Couched in their stories are messages about systemic racism, shortcomings of the prison system, the important role of parents in a child's life, and the power of community.

Interviews and footage help relay the personalities of individual girls and men. In the group coaching sessions, one man reveals he doesn't usually have the opportunity to talk honestly and share his emotions. Some viewers might miss more candor about why these men have been incarcerated (in one case for up to 30 years). But that's not the focus of Daughters, and it would be hard not to get swept up in the emotional human stories on display. One storyline is constructed to suggest the contact helped a teenage girl go from suicidal to high school graduation. Closing credits tell us that 95% of the dads in the "Date with Dad" program, founded by co-director Patton, don't return to prison.