The 13th Amendment of the US Constitution reads: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." When this amendment was ratified in 1865, its second qualifying clause left open a large loophole, allowing American prisons to use inmates as involuntary labor. Ava DuVernay's documentary, 13th, traces the effects of that loophole, specifically, as it has led to the horrors of mass criminalization and the sprawling and expanding American prison industry.

GMU Visiting Filmmakers Series: 13th with Hans Charles is sponsored by Film and Media Studies, African and African American Studies, Film and Video Studies, Global Affairs, Global Programs, English, History and Art History, University Libraries, University Life, Women and Gender Studies, the Black Student Alliance, and Delta Kappa Alpha. 

For more information, see GMU FAMS or contact Cynthia Fuchs at 703 993 2768.