Rating: R
Genre:
Drama
Theatrical Release: 08/29/2003(USA
Release Date: 01/27/2004
SubTitles: English/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: DDS/DD5.1
Run Time: 91 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Rape & Sexual Abuse, Profanity
Distributor/Studio: Lions Gate
Television director
Neema Barnette directs the forceful
drama Civil Brand, based on a story by
Preston A. Whitmore II. Shot with a micro-budget of 500,000 dollars, the film stars confrontational
rap and
hip-hop artists
Mos Def,
MC Lyte, and
Da Brat. The story concerns a women's prison that exploits its largely African-American inmate population as cheap labor to manufacture products for a corporation. Mostly incarcerated due to domestic violence situations, the inmates also face sexual abuse as the hands of the prison staff, headed by Captain Deese (
Clifton Powell) and Warden Nelson (
Reed McCants). Accused of murder, Frances Shepard (
Lisa Rae) joins forces with inmates Little Momma (
Lark Voorhies), Wet (
Monica Calhoun), and Nikki Barnes (
N'Bushe Wright), as well as law student Michael (
Mos Def), in order to start an uprising.
~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide