‍

The new documentary “Attica” that tells the story of the 1971 prison riot at the Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York made a specific choice to cut the voices of academics and historians, opting instead to make this film exclusively the story of the prisoners and families who lived through it.

“Your instincts whenever you’re telling the story is go to the historians. It was so dissonant with the voices of the prisoners and the families because you’re putting this disconnected, academic, pedantic voice,” the film’s producer Traci Curry told TheWrap’s Steve Pond at the Toronto Film Festival. “It just became clear that this just has to be their story.”

“It was definitely the right decision. There’s no second-guessing,” director Stanley Nelson added. “It was like he was coming from another world. Butted up against people like Tyrone who had been there, and him talking about it in academic tones just didn’t work.”

The new documentary “Attica” that tells the story of the 1971 prison riot at the Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York made a specific choice to cut the voices of academics and historians, opting instead to make this film exclusively the story of the prisoners and families who lived through it.

“Your instincts whenever you’re telling the story is go to the historians. It was so dissonant with the voices of the prisoners and the families because you’re putting this disconnected, academic, pedantic voice,” the film’s producer Traci Curry told TheWrap’s Steve Pond at the Toronto Film Festival. “It just became clear that this just has to be their story.”

“It was definitely the right decision. There’s no second-guessing,” director Stanley Nelson added. “It was like he was coming from another world. Butted up against people like Tyrone who had been there, and him talking about it in academic tones just didn’t work.”

Read more at The Wrap.