By Glenn Dunks

“Attica! Attica!”

The memory of the Attica Correctional Facility revolt has lingered throughout pop culture. Whether it was on the periphery of Best Picture nominee Dog Day Afternoon, inspiring a season-long story arc on Orange is the New Black, or as the direct subject of literature like Heather Ann Thompson’s acclaimed Blood in the Water, and in movies across cinema and TV. For our purposes, there have already been several documentaries about it, perhaps most notably Cinda Firestone’s 1974 doc Attica and Brad Lichtenstein’s Ghosts of Attica from 2001.

If you have seen all of these then it may feel like there isn’t much to say on the subject that dates back to September 9–13, 1971. And having only watched Firestone’s incredible and matter-of-fact feature some time last year (while unaware of a new titles being in the works), I did certainly remember many of this sorry saga’s painful and tragic moments. However, director Stanley Nelson and co-director Traci Curry have their own wealth of story to tell that makes for frequently fascinating storytelling...