An Omar Broadway Film

Plot Summary

AN OMAR BROADWAY FILM EXPLORES what happens inside a maximum-security prison in a way that has never been seen before. Through the lens of Omar’s camera, the film looks at the complex relationship between inmates and guards. It shows the daily life of an inmate, the soul crushing monotony, the regularity of prisoners rioting and protesting, and consequences of prisoners getting beat down, threatened and abused by the guards while at the same time expressing how many guards feel they are prisoners themselves. The movie explores the emotions that come out of being locked in a cage for 23 hours each day. We gain understanding in the way prisoners try to survive and keep their hope from disappearing – while at the same time have our sympathy challenged as we learn how many people end up in prison. The film also takes a look at the city where Omar was raised. His mother, Lynne, takes us through the neighborhood of East Orange, New Jersey, where everyone from children to grandfathers know about prison, a town where guns and drugs are not shocking and where grammar school kids are already joining gangs. We speak to Omar’s family, friends, and fellow gang members, as we learn the back-story about how he went from being a straight-A student to gang leader. In a place where the expectation is that your child will either end up dead or in prison, we see unexpected love of neighborhood, an absence of blaming society for a lack of opportunity only to instead find people with an often unseen sense of responsibility for one’s choices combined with a hunger for success and a belief it is still possible. AN OMAR BROADWAY FILM gives an unprecedented look into prisons from the eyes of the prisoner. We follow Omar through his struggle to keep the camera hidden while still exposing the reality of what it’s like on the inside. We see if the footage he shot ultimately gets him released, caught, or killed.