Survivors of Solitary Confinement Tell Their Stories in “The Box”

The New Yorker, September 7, 2022: Survivors of Solitary Confinement Tell Their Stories in “The Box”

“Every day, in prisons and jails across the United States, some eighty thousand people are held in solitary confinement, isolated and deprived of human contact. A growing body of scientific evidence shows that such conditions cause the brain to wither and can lead to permanent neurological damage. Per the United Nations’ ‘Nelson Mandela Rules,’ which, in 2015, were adopted as minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners around the world, prolonged use of the practice amounts to torture and should be abolished.

“All of this research and regulation reinforces what is already intuitive: taking away individuals’ ability to interact with the world around them strips them of what it is to be human. This notion is easy to understand; what is far more difficult to comprehend, for those who have never endured solitary confinement, is how it feels to be locked by the state in a cell no bigger than a parking space. ‘The Box,’ a short documentary directed by James Burns and Shal Ngo, vividly bridges that gap. The film blends first-person narration, live-action reënactment sequences, and stop-motion animation to explore the psychological trauma that solitary confinement inflicts on survivors.”

Additional reading:

NBC News, September 9, 2022: New California bill aims to restrict solitary confinement

Gothamist, September 8, 2022: Data shows New York is violating a new law banning solitary confinement

The Guardian, August 24, 2022: Nearly 50,000 people held in solitary confinement in US, report says