When you go to prison with a camera, it's often like that. - Welcome to the zoo! They take us for monkeys! I'm innocent and more, I have nothing to do! Here is the California hotel. We are muzzled! Come see the cells we have, the chicken coops! Oh, smile, smile! Behind these gates, 190 inmates locked up 22 hours a day . The yo yos are the D system of the prison world. They are prohibited. Prisoners can exchange anything, beyond the control of the prison administration. This resourcefulness, Kevin knows it well. At 29, he is imprisoned for the fifth time. The first was eleven years ago. His story is tattooed on his skin. - That...Marseilles. This is my revenge. That's when you make your mother cry. - When was the first time you entered prison? - It's a very long time ago. I was 18 years and two days old. It was for speeding and driving without a license. Me, I went out, I started to attack the garages. - And it was in prison that you learned that? - You learn a lot of stuff in prison. Already, they are all there thinking. Until the day they come out and they screw up. Here, they revolved around the jar a lot. Because here we are in a bowl like a fish. - Why did you come back here again? - For the same facts, for thefts but thefts that happened four or five years earlier. They came to my house at half past six in the morning, they broke down the door. My daughter slept with me. My wife picked it up. They didn't have time to get to the room and I was already jumping out the window. Here is. They caught me downstairs. - Did you cry? - No. The first time, yes. The second time too. But third, fourth, there, no. If I had done like everyone else, passed a CAP or obtained another diploma, I could have succeeded. I chose the quickest route, flight. It's easier. We take the same youngster as me, with the same background, he, at this hour, maybe he has a house, everything he needs, but I have nothing. - You have a wife and two children? - That's it, and a good nest egg too. Yes, otherwise everything I did would have been for naught. Like Kevin, nearly half of inmates reoffend. In France, there are 188 prisons. Between Bordeaux and Toulouse we followed the daily life of prisoners in two of them. One day, they killed, raped, robbed, robbed. They were sentenced to terms of 2 to 18 years in prison. Most agreed to testify openly. They told us about their fears, their loneliness and the life that changes. - I killed someone. What is difficult when you do rather serious things, and that you have never done, is to understand the reasons. Their first day in prison, the moment of all dangers. The one where one is judged, judged, tested by the other prisoners and by the guards. - If someone takes your pack of cigarettes and you say nothing, you're finished. People will come to your place and help themselves as if it were Club Med. Their crowded cells where up to eight prisoners are piled up. - Even animals are better! Even dogs have more room than that. Fear rides in the stomach. - I took a punch here and a punch there. Two broken teeth and a broken nose too. The discovery of trafficking and the violence it engenders. - French prisons are sieves. - I would say that it is certainly narcotics. Pressure, extortion, threats. - Reprisals can also go beyond the walls of a prison. - If tomorrow we allow them the cell phone, we no longer have control over it, so they will harass their victims. It's going to be hellish. To stay alive, they blend into this microsociety. - Prisons are the jungle. The smaller one will be eaten by the larger one. - When you've seen the real face of prison, it's hell on earth. They cling to their family, to the visiting room, to their baby made in prison. Their wives are patient and sometimes ready for anything out of love. - He's coming out soon. I look forward. They hold on, because they hope for their man, reduced sentence and conditional. - This time, if you are asked again, you won't give in to easy money? In this closed world, face to face with justice is a reason to live. - What do you actually want? You don't want us to go out? How do we live behind bars? Is a future possible after incarceration? Agen, 40,000 inhabitants and right in the city centre, walls five meters high, those of the prison. Remand prisons are the first contact with prison for any incarcerated person. Detainees await their trial or are sentenced to short sentences of less than two years. Locked up most of the time, they rarely see each other, except for the walk like now. They go there in turn, in groups of 20. They are entitled to it twice a day. Every morning, when the cells are empty, a team of guards is responsible for checking that the bars have not been locked during the night. And it's done by ear. - We do this together because a few years ago, there was a death with the bar. - How so? - The thug took the helm and he got smashed. In prison, everyone learns to distrust each other. In the courtyard, the detainees always stand with their backs to the wall. Kevin, the garage robber has been incarcerated for two months. He knows the dangers of the walk. - At any time someone can come by and kick you. It's going fast, it's going very fast. - For a firecracker, I've seen people get hit, for cigarettes get hit with a razor blade. For security reasons, the regulations prohibit. Wardens to enter the yard in the presence of the detainees. - In general fights, we count on them. There are always a few to separate them. It prevents it from going too far. We are instructed not to come in, because there are many of them and they can attack us. - If you're weak, it's over. Either you let yourself go or you don't. Whoever comes to talk to me, I tell him that we don't know each other so we don't talk to each other. I don't talk to anyone except those in my cell. But even more than in the yard, when the door closes, anything can happen in the cell. The individual cell is a principle enshrined in law. But like all prisons, that of Agen is overcrowded. Currently, 22 inmates are sleeping there on mattresses on the floor. Distributing them in the prison taking into account their profile is the daily headache of Martine, the head supervisor. - Hello gentlemen. How are you? I turn on. Warning! In this cell planned for six people, they are eight. In Agen, prisoners still live in dormitories. The last to arrive, the youngest or the weakest, sleep on the ground. - There anyway, we are at the worst of the worst. We could not have imagined finding ourselves at eight in the cells. The conditions are a little difficult. - Normally it's two people in a cell. It's not seven. When I was little, I had the image of two people, not seven. The prison administration has no choice. There are too many prisoners. - It's complicated for us too insofar as we don't have any more room. So you have to do permutations, things like that. This causes a lot of problems since it is necessary to add chairs, add tables, add mattresses. So the more you add, the tighter they are, the more tension it creates. - He was assaulted in a cell. - He was the underling of the cell. - He had a little trouble in another cell. - I had to stay in front of the TV, change the channels because the remote control didn't work. - Basically he was the remote control. - Why was it you? - I was the last to arrive and I didn't say anything. - They took advantage of it, it's weak. - As soon as I arrived in the cell, an hour later, they started beating me. Because five in a cell of four, they didn't like it. I arrived, my glasses exploded, I received them yesterday. On both arms I had bruises. - Look, it has sequelae! Explain to them the blow you received. - It's the kettle in the face. - You were afraid? - Yes, all the same because they said they knew everyone here. It took ten days and a wound on the forehead for the guards to discover the ordeal of this prisoner. They immediately moved him to another cell. - Before that, they hit him on the body. But hey, if nobody says anything, we don't see. There is no noise, one cannot guess. That's why we didn't realize it. That's the problem in prison, there are a lot of things you don't see, that you don't know. And you have to go to information, it's complicated. So there it is, it's not obvious. - But what did you feel when you saw this gentleman? - A lot of anger in fact, it is especially that which came to me in the first place. Not even sympathy or anything. It's a lot of anger towards those who did this. Gentlemen, the walk. Here we go! Martine convinced the inmate victim to file a complaint against his attackers. The case must be judged soon. In the cell next door, two prisoners have just been released and there are only four left. Kevin didn't choose his fellow prisoners, but he says he was in good luck. To support promiscuity, they have set themselves rules. Household in turn and cigarettes at the window. - Are you used to several people in the cell? - Yes. You have to. There, when you lose two at once, it feels good. At four it's more breathable. The cabin is Kevin's bed. The only place where he has created a little privacy. - When he wants to isolate himself a little. - When I want to watch TV, I do that. I open here. To improve daily life, the prisoners do what they can with the means at hand. - We have a dumbbell. It's for the arms. It's beginners like me. Me, I have small arms. After the fellow prisoner, he needs two packs of water. You do several sets. By force, it heats up the muscle, it makes it grow. To make a cake, you take this one. That's the cook. - It makes us an oven. We are six in the same. Those who are going to defecate, of course, we don't really want to hear. So we put that on there. There are two types of inmates, repeat offenders, like Kevin. From a very young age, prison has been part of their lives. And then there are the so-called primaries, those for whom it's the first time. Michel has just been sentenced to 18 years in prison for murder. He is 71 years old. Every day, his place as librarian in the remand center allows him to leave his cell for a few hours, isolating himself from detention. - In a prison, you have very little activity. So there are people who are happy, who find it good, who stay in bed all day. They are either waiting to die or to come out. Well, I have to take care of myself. Retired entrepreneur, married, father of a family, Michel seemed to have succeeded in his life. Imprisoned for three years before being tried, he did not appeal and is awaiting his transfer. - Me, I had 18 years in prison, I killed someone. I don't know what the price of life is. The price of a life can be much more. I could have been sentenced to life. A murder is a murder. What is difficult when you do things with serious facts, and that you have never done, is to understand the reasons. I never had to deal with justice until this drama happened. It's strong enough though. It is a new world in which I have fallen. Confinement, fear. Michel undergoes what is called prison shock. - I was not flabbergasted, but I did not know exactly where I was. What had I done? Unable to put ideas into place one after another. It's impossible. I woke up for three or four months with nightmares, stuff like that. When you are old, you are cataloged for sexual crimes, whether it is a pedophile etc. So already we have the impression that we have to justify ourselves. Killing someone is not very serious in prison. What is serious is the rape. Rape of a minor, pedophilia. All of this is frowned upon. Rapists, we call them pointers. Michel discovers the codes of the prison and its hierarchy. - When I went out in the yard, at the time, they played football. And I was filming with my book. I did not know anyone. Bullets were beginning to whistle past my ears. I sat in a corner. Of course, boom, the bullet was coming. Well, until the moment when I had seen that there was a leader. And it was he who said to me: "What are you doing here? What did you do? How did it go?" So I explained to him. I had to convince him. So I was no longer bothered by balloons, etc. They gave me a royal peace. What is missing in prison is the possibility of being alone. Promiscuity, television. Every night we have a guy I didn't know before I came here. A guy named Cyril Hanouna. We have all the documentaries on the drivers of the impossible, the builders of the impossible. Everything that is impossible and that Americans can do. When I know what they're going to watch, I put the headphones on and read or listen to music. - What are you listening to? - There, in this case, it's Radio Classique. Michel remained for another six months in this cell before being transferred to a prison for long terms. To unclog the prisons, the prison administration also transfers more and more short sentences. Sentenced to two years in prison, Kevin should have remained in Agen until his release. But when he woke up, he was warned that he was going to a detention center. To limit the risks of convoy attacks and escape attempts, these decisions are always communicated at the last moment. - You're not going to get depressed! We're all going out. I go out to go somewhere else. Kevin is now placed under the responsibility of Martine. It must guarantee the security of the transfer and for that, it must submit to several checks. In prison, modesty no longer exists. There comes a time when we have to go through it. - The T-shirt. Underpants. OK that works. It's good for me. You can get dressed. - It's a little humiliating. You have to, too bad. I have to do like everyone else. I put my hand in front, I turn around once. The more Kevin approaches the exit airlock, the more the procedures become tense. - It brings back bad memories, when you're in police custody, etc. Along with Kevin, three other inmates are transferred. - We are targeted by terrorists. Anything that's uniform... - Can't we put the music on? - Put on Skyrock. - Can you hear behind? - Yes it's good. Martine always makes sure that the journeys go well. Kevin rediscovers the horizon. He hadn't seen him for two months. 40 minutes later, he arrives in Villeneuve sur Lot, at the Eysses detention center, his new universe. Like Agen, it is an old prison, but its space is immense. It is one of the largest detention centers in France. In the 17th century, Eysses was first an abbey before becoming a prison for children, then a political prison under the Occupation. Upstairs, historic buildings, abandoned rooms bear witness to prison conditions at the start of the 20th century. With these mesh cells of four square meters. At the end of the 1970s, Eysses became a detention center for long-term prisoners who had the best chance of reintegration. Focused on preparation for release, the rules are more flexible there than in a remand center. - Go for it! Put down your right hand. I'll give you your traffic card. You should always have it on you. This card will serve as an identity document for Kevin and will allow him to circulate inside the walls. In this trolley, his belongings and those of the three other transfers today. - Reminds me of when I used to push safes. In Eysses, there are almost 300 prisoners. But for now, Kevin will see them from afar. The new ones are always shelved in one wing of this building. An airlock before mixing them with the other prisoners. - It's good to see the outside. I'm going to be fine, there's grass and everything is fine, it's fine. The key to the cell, freedom. In the detention center, the detainees are alone in the cell and they have the key. The supervisors use another lock to lock them up at night and at mealtimes, ie 24 hours a day . For a fortnight, Kevin will be scrutinized, observed, analyzed. Staff, doctors, psychologists will draw up his profile before assigning him to one of the detention blocks. In Eysses, there are four, designated by simple letters. All look alike, except building D. Called the respect module, it is designed to combat violence in prison and receives vulnerable prisoners in particular. Here, no closed passageway and more present supervisors, like Carole. She has been managing this building for two years. - We have protected inmates. So that they do not experience their detention too badly and above all come out of it alive. It is a building that is open. So at the slightest noise, we are quickly alerted. And then, the prisoners tell us about it right away when there is a problem. It is also the principle, it is that we have established a dialogue between them and us. And inevitably, there is violence, I'm not saying there isn't, but there is much, much less. One of Carole's missions is to check that neither narcotics nor mobile phones enter this building. - Why are cell phones banned in prison? - Because most of them use the cell phone to traffic. If that was it. To call the family...here you go. But there are those who harass their victims too, through cell phones. Because of a cell phone found in his cushions, for ten days, Damien has been locked up 23 hours a day in a cell. He is only allowed to go out for a walk of 1 hour per day. An alternative measure to the disciplinary district, when the doctors consider the prisoners too fragile psychologically. The penalty ends today. This time, Damien was lucky. At the next incident, he will be excluded from the Respect module and he will lose his protected status. - Here they must be square, flawless. Sir knows it. I hope he hears well and that he understands it well. - How would you like to go back to another detention building? No, I do not want. Damien accumulated the debts in his old building. Sending him back would expose him to reprisals and could even put his life in danger. - A little blond with blue eyes, you know in prison, even if I am part of the travelers and I have a strong character, they are always stronger with three. - Why were you isolated here and not in the punishment block? - Because I'm incapacitated. Unfit, that means I can't stay locked up without television, without anything, I can't. I can't stand it and I don't have the profile. They know very well that otherwise I will scarify myself or something, it will go wrong. Look! I also have some on my chest. - What are you doing this to yourself? - With razor blades. When I freak out, I'm not going to take it out on people, on inmates. It's used for? I prefer to take one myself. I'm not crazy, I'm followed. I prefer to blame myself, it calms me down. It's good to go out. Despite searches, some detainees manage to break the law. They get phones that they hide in ever more unexpected places. I have a cell phone, which is thrown to me like a parachute by the sports fields. It can also fit in the parlor. With us, we say: "if you don't know how to do it, prison doesn't make the crime". So here, I adapted, I can dig it up for you. It's my phone. This one is for going on the Internet. A little broken because it was thrown at me, but it works great. This one rings. I got it bought by an inmate. - How much? - 160 euros, two cartridges, 80 €euros with this one. So this one is for the day, so you don't get caught. This one is hidden during the day. In the evening around 7 p.m., once the door is closed, we can take it out. Go on the Internet, surf and see the family. Visio, photos, videos. This one here. I hear the person very well. I am in video there, I speak with her by message. After, you have different phones iPhone 6, iPhone 7, iPhone 9, the latest Samsung Galaxy S10 is already here. For hiding places, it's not complicated. Boxer shorts, the kangaroo pocket, no supervisor will come there. But two months after his demonstration, the supervisors finally discovered his phones. Immediate sanction, expulsion from the building and disciplinary quarter. It is called the mitard. Sanctioned by management for having insulted a supervisor, Gabriel had to stay there for five days. Here it is completely isolated. In his cell, there is no television and rudimentary furniture fixed to the floor. Detainees are not allowed any personal belongings except tobacco, a radio and books. Gabriel is 21 years old. This is the third time he has returned to prison. The first time, he was not sixteen years old. - Outside, we do stupid things. In prison, we continue to do so. In prison, we go to the prison of the prison, we do not understand. All the state systems, juvenile wards, detention center, penitentiary center, I've done them all. It's not good to put people in prison for a month to fifteen years. It is a starification of a minor. He's in a neighborhood, he's a petty criminal. One month, he comes back and it's not the same anymore. You would almost have to send them to the army, I was lucky enough to have a family. Even though I committed misdemeanors and a felony that sent me to trial, I did an armed robbery and got eight years. I think that's when I grew up. I saw my parents crumble. I realized things. Me, I'm young, I know I'll get out soon. It is above all the age of our parents that we calculate. There's no point in going out if people aren't around. Making your parents proud means giving meaning and usefulness to this time in prison. In Eysses, prisoners can go back to school and work 6 hours a day for businesses in the region. They earn €4.30 an hour, or half the minimum wage. This salary allows the poorest to compensate their victims and to eat canteen. Canteen means buying external products. But to get a job, you have to wait several months. In the area arriving, Kevin is still isolated. His cell is temporary, but he spends his days bricking it. - It's clean anyway. Spiders should not be killed, it brings bad luck. Especially here, in prison. So I don't want to kill her, I don't want it to bring me bad luck. But then, frankly, it changed me. I am calmer, more poised. I spoke with no one, I was quiet. There are some who make a joint on a walk. They are sick. When you're new, that's where you have the most problems, people take advantage of it. But today, the observation period is over. Entry into prison is by stages. Until now, Kevin had only seen incoming inmates from the block. He will now confront the rest of the detention. Both small and long sentences. Sport is the most successful activity in prison. To supervise about fifty detainees, there are only two monitors who are also supervisors. In a space of 2000 square meters. - How many times have you been home? - Five times! - What's your biggest pain? - Three years. It wasn't here, it was in Aix en Provence. - How was it there? - It was hot. More than here. Over there, there is only castagne. Here, the horizon is completely clear. It's rare in prison. Enough to stimulate fantasies of escape. - You want to go out, you go out. You bring a large, well-armoured 4X4 in reverse, towards the first fence. We escape. The stadium is the rendezvous of detention. Some play the hairdressers, others spend themselves. The youngest learn to defend themselves under the control of Fred, one of the two monitors. The big arms of detention, they are there, in the weight room. Protein pectorals, they want to impress. - It's the narcissistic side. There really is this culture of sculpting your body. Sport is a space of freedom, but Fred is always on the lookout. - They see that I am there, that I watch, that I turn. They know there will be reinforcements if needed. They know the watchtowers are there too if something happens outside. - Have big fights ever happened here? -Yes, we had one not too long ago. A settling of accounts. They attacked several of an inmate who was beaten. So there. They are two or three or more. I am alone. Here it is complicated. The stadium is the most sensitive area of detention. Place of settlement of accounts. It is also here that enters everything that is forbidden in prison, projected over the fences. -Earlier, the colleague who called me from the watchtower told me: "It was picked up, it was distributed to someone who entered the gymnasium running", who passed to a another, another, another. And then, to find it, it's complicated. We always hope that it will not be something that they could turn against us. So far, it's often narcotics and phones. And it's true that the day it will be a firearm or a bladed weapon... I sent her this information. I'm the one on the front line because it happens in the stadium. My colleague and I are here. I think we will be the first to be confronted. But so far, that has never happened. I hope it will continue like this. The prison administration cannot stem all the trafficking. The prison is a micro-society in which the strongest impose their law. - There are little chefs everywhere. It's a bit like ours. We have our direction, our head of custody. It's the same with them. There is also a hierarchy in their way. - But you know it! - So we don't always know, but we see it quickly. We're going to see the one who will never be bothered, who has everything he needs in his cell. In general, these are very well installed. They have super clean cells, they don't bother anyone. They are very very respectful of the staff. But after that it will go crescendo. And in general, the "little ones", I always say the victims, the ones we're going to take to do everything, both to dispatch the drugs, they use them and it's never the boss who will fall. The boss, we'll never find anything at his place. Unlike most prisons, which are delivered from outside, in Eysses, meals are made on site by inmates, then dispatched twice a day to these boxes, to each of the detention buildings. First to be served, building D, that of the Respect module. - Good day Mrs. Do you have to be at D to respect yourself? Because here we are at B. - How is B? - The B is the jungle, madam, it's a mess. And us, we are in the brothel, we are not going to the D us. We are incompatible with the D. Because at the D you have to have files... Rachid has been convicted many times for drug trafficking. Prisons, he has known plenty in his life. This, he says, is one of the best he has done. Always polite, always friendly. When he invited us to come and see him in his building, it's a bit like he was welcoming us into his home. - Listen, we're on my floor. We're on the first floor of building B. That's where I'm an upstairs assistant. The auxiliaries are remunerated 300 euros per month for the general service of the prison. A coveted position that Rachid has always held during his previous detention. - "Great dad!" She's my daughter . Listen, there, this is the portrait of my children. It's my little comfort, in the evening, with my little cushions, my little chair. The side where I cook with my hotplates, my small dishes. There, we have the canteens, the bottles of water. After the small Hi-Fi corner, a home cinema. My clothes, the little fridge. There you have the promenade. As it is hot at the moment, I took the double to have a double draft in the evening. - You asked to be moved? - No, in the corner rooms there are two windows. While in the others, there is only one. - You chose this room? - It's me, yes. - It's a privilege. - No, it's not a privilege. Rachid has already spent 17 years in prison. He saw the penal population change, he no longer finds himself there. - I started nonsense, greed, easy money. Traffic. And then after, it's the gear. The years pass so quickly that today I find myself in front of you at 40 years old. I started, I was 18 years old. When I arrived here, I saw a colleague I knew in 98. We saw each other here in 2018. You know what he said to me? He looked at me and said: "Rachid, we are the old people now. Before, we were the young people. Now we are the old people". We looked at each other like two old people. We were beautiful among all these young people. - How many differences do you two have? - Could be my son. Are you okay here? It goes well? - Yes, very well. I'm quiet no one bothers me. Rachid served two thirds of his sentence. He can apply for parole. But before preparing his file, he must work and serve dinner. - Well, I'm putting on the apron. We are going to attack the bowl. So here we go. It's a little ratatouille. The little Charlotte. Here, it's closing time. It is 6:45 a.m., the time for the closing of the cells. - The prison is hard but the bowl is safe. You finish the bowl then I bring you the fire. A fire is a lighter. I don't want the supervisor to be bothered. We're going to find a fire so he can have a good evening. - I'll just take this and a yogurt. - Can you find me a fire please? I need a fire. Here, I found you a fire. It's okay, are you going to have a good evening? - Yes thanks. For smokers, lighters are worth gold. Not having one before dark can generate incidents and the beginnings of riots. The detainees are locked up until the following day, 7 am. The yo yo ballet begins. Night patrols too. As we say in the penitentiary, the guards verify that the prisoners are present and alive. In prison, the number of suicides is seven times higher than outside. - The walkway also allows us to have a view of the entire external part of the detention. The large nets were put precisely to prevent the projections from reaching the detention or the exercise yards. Villeneuve-sur-Lot is waking up. It's Sunday, speaking day. To obtain a visiting permit, you must be a member of the family or justify that you are contributing to the integration of the detainee. Entries are at fixed times. No delay is tolerated. As in an airport, visitors are subjected to a metal detector. Their bag checked by a scanner. Of course, portable and dangerous products are prohibited. For hygienic reasons, fresh products too. - We tolerate drinks, liters of water, if you like, water for families. Colored water, anything colored, is prohibited. That's just for mixing. And after all that is food, we tolerate for children. It takes 20 minutes to bring in about thirty families. It's like this every weekend. Today, mothers, fathers, wives, children come to see a son, a husband, a father. The supervisors call the families. One by one, they enter the booths of the visiting rooms. Meanwhile, on the other side, the prisoners pass the security gates and identify themselves by their prison number. Once their families are locked in these cabins, he enters through a second door. Thus, they never meet the relatives of another. - We go around, we make unexpected rounds, we take a quick look to see if everything is going well. Tours last 1.5 hours. Behind these doors, boxes of six square meters without cameras. In one of them, an inmate discovers his baby. It's ten days old. - Yes, she's my daughter. - So what is this little girl's name? - Leiwen. Is this the first time you've seen him? - Yes, it's the first time I've seen her. - So how did you find it? - I find her beautiful. In principle they are not always beautiful, but she is. It always does something. - Isn't it too hard to be inside when you have the children outside? - Yes, it's hard. We do not have a choice. We have no choice but to accept. But soon, very soon. Soon, Jackson will be eligible for a five-day furlough. He met his wife through a fellow prisoner. They met by phone before getting married in prison. Leiwen was conceived here in a family living unit. Because sex in the visiting room, in theory, is impossible. - Normally, it is forbidden. Normally this is prohibited. So then, we understand. Husband and wife, at one point, they don't see each other all week. Sometimes there are families who come every month. We know what's going on. Officially, they just come to chat. - Talk over. - It is forbidden, but not seen, not taken. Here you stay dressed. She arrives in a skirt with nothing underneath and voila, it's party time. Even if the supervisor comes by, she's just sitting on top of you. We made a baby like that. But hey, it's a parlor. You know, there are people nearby, around. We are not going to. The one that makes noise, if you're with your mother next door, how do you do it? It's subject to huge stories and fights in prison. That's a shame. You imagine? You are next, you hear animal noises. The guys when they go out, I can guarantee you that they are expensive. When the visits are over, the detainees collect the laundry that their wives have washed and ironed. The women leave with the bags of dirty laundry. There are four parlor towers. Depending on the places available, they can request up to four visits per weekend. By dint of crossing paths, certain sympathy. When husbands are friends in prison, their wives often become friends too. 200 meters from the detention centre, this house, run by volunteers, welcomes families between two visiting rooms. To visit their loved ones, some make a long journey. Like this young woman. She comes from Bayonne. Every weekend, she does 600 kilometers round trip. When her fiancé was incarcerated, she had just met him. - It's impressive when you go there for the first time. - Yes, because I had never entered a prison. So it's true that it freaked me out. But then you get used to it. - What do you bring when you go see your darling? - Oh, I can bring him candy. A small sandwich that I necessarily hide, like many people. Around the thigh. - We're James Bond Girls. - I have to go get ready. What women bring in secret, in general, it is not heavy traffic. Merguez, hamburgers or chocolates, they try to fill the small gaps of everyday life. - One day, a supervisor told a girl that she smelled like onions. Actually, she had a kebab or something. They look like they are going to war when they go to the visiting room. - It's okay, you can't see it? - No, it's fine. - I have three sandwiches. Two Big Macs! - Put it in your cleavage. - Yes, but it will smell. - But how are you going to do it? Leave it there. I'm going to put it on my ankle. I can not walk. - Are you very much in love? - I think, because it's hard. For sandwiches, she only risks suspensions from visiting rooms. But for cell phones or narcotics, they incur criminal penalties. 1 hour and a half later, Aurore told us that she was too scared to do things that are forbidden in prison. Her husband managed without her to get a cell phone. He can join her whenever he wants. Sometimes even a little too much. - It's good and bad the phone. Because they harass us a bit with it. Know where we are, what we are doing. - But when they call you have to answer. - We're copped. You must respond immediately. Ah yes, they are terrible at that. - Are you jealous? Yes, also because there are a lot of women who come to see men in detention, who met by cell phone. And yes, but I'm talking about that, talking, but he's already done it to me. Here, a Sylvie, she did the visiting room. I saw another woman in a photo. And then he tells me it's Sylvie from Badoo. - What is Badoo? - A dating site. He said to me: "I met her on the Internet. I went to see her Facebook. I spoke to her on Messenger. - What did you tell her? - I said to her: "Come to the visiting room, I'm waiting for you ". - How was she? - She wasn't terrible. So it's ok. I had met a lady, Chantal, 50, she had gotten together with a 25-year-old and she had met her on Badoo . She was going to see him at the prison. She brought him some hash only to find out at the end that he had a wife and a kid. Once she got caught, he told her: "You're not coming back well, it's good. I used you". - Did you ask yourself the question of leaving him? - Yes, but no, I can't leave him. Love is stronger, stronger than the bars. But over the years, some of them can't take this life spent waiting any longer. Jonathan was sentenced to four years in prison for burglary. He's been here two years. Two months ago, his partner l left with a simple letter. Since he separated from their mother, he no longer sees his children. She no longer comes to see him in the visiting room. On weekends, he stays alone in the cell. - It's to have a little air of home. To feel a bit in hipster mode. I think it looks pretty. It was more decorated when he had all the photos. - Why did you take them off? - On most of them, there was my ex on it. - Are you going to try to get her back when you leave? - No, it's not possible. It's dead. Me, I'm a little disgusted because everything I've done, I've done for us. I didn't do that in. ur me. There were even evenings when she asked me to go out to get money. I have never robbed in particular. I never went to a private home. I stole that state. Town halls, post offices. Afterwards, if I'm no longer with it, it's largely because of prison. I regret many things. Even more since she left me. I don't want to take my head with her because with my first companion, we took the lead. Then I didn't see my big one for eight years. That, I suffered a lot not to be there for him. I don't want to do the same thing with the little ones. - My father died in 2008. My mother, it's complicated. For me, my mother is my biological mother. There is no bond like a child with his mother. I blame my mother. We are five. My sister, at three years old, my grandparents raised her. My big brother, at a year and a half, he was placed. I was placed at three months. You've had three children, don't have any more. You can't raise them, you don't make others. So afterwards, she had our two little brothers. They ended up at the Ddass, also placed until they were 18 years old. But then, after life, that's how it is. Me, I started to grow up at home . It's not because I did stupid things that I was placed. In the beginning, there were no people who were there because they had been fooling around. Then, little by little, we had scum, we had guys who were there for bullshit. Burglary, etc. How do you want to grow properly. - Seven or eight years ago, the first thing I was disrespectful of was fighting. Many people told me that I had changed a lot. Most of the detainees we met come from child welfare. Prison creates family and professional ruptures. The integration and probation services were created to make the link between the inside and the outside. - Your son filed his application very recently. Charlotte is 28 years old. Every day, she helps inmates prepare for their release. - We must also ask ourselves the question: When does prison no longer have any meaning? When did we go too far in confinement for the person to no longer be reintegrable. It's good to put them in the shade of society. We put them aside, we put them in the shade, we don't see them and we forget them for a while. And then at some point they come out. And there, if nothing is done during the period when they were incarcerated, what happens outside? Today, Rachid asked him for an appointment to take stock of his conditional request. For it to be admissible, he must prove good behavior in detention, accommodation and work outside. - You have a request for adjustment of sentence which is in progress? - Yes, since I was refused an adjustment of sentence two months ago. - Yes, was this your first accommodation request? - That's it. I passed a cleaning CAP for eight months which I obtained here because there are training courses here. And then I managed to get a permanent contract. - Okay, so you have a doubt about the sustainability of the contract after all. - In fact the judge told me that the contract was a clumsy contract, - What does that mean? - Those are his terms. That was bogus. He told me that the turnover was 4,000 euros. And that they couldn't hire me. - He was afraid that the contract could not continue for the rest of your sentence outside. - Exact. - So you resubmitted a request. - I made another request, but hey. Yes. - Are we on the same measure as last time? - Listen, we're still the same, but the problem is that it's no longer cleaning, it's carpentry. - Yes, you have experience in carpentry? - No, I don't have any experience. I want to explain to them that it's a permanent contract, that the company dates back to 2009 and that the turnover is substantial. We'll see what they tell me. Gradually return to freedom. By finishing his sentence outside , the risk of recidivism is halved. It is 7 o 'clock. Thanks to his good behavior in detention, every day of the week, Jonathan benefits from special permission from the judge to get out of prison for a few hours. If he feels like he's changed, it's because people trusted him here. He became the cook of the supervisors' canteen. The prison saves a post and allows him to learn a trade by touching the penitentiary minimum wage, 400 euros per month. - Coming here every morning, getting out of jail? - You're good. You see it differently. I am no longer in detention all morning. I'm happy, they gave me my chance without having a diploma. In order for him to apply for parole, the mother of his children agrees to keep their house and pay the rent for another two months. But outside, he lacks a job. - When you apply from your cell, you write a cover letter to a boss, you have to tell him that you're in detention because otherwise, if he says he wants to see you tomorrow, it's not possible. Currently in detention, he puts her aside and takes the next one. So it's sure that you're already putting a bullet in your foot just by applying. Everything is complicated when you are in detention. - Are we still not well there? I think about my campaign, sincerely. I miss it. I adore. I don't like the city. I love the countryside. It's true that I miss it. I like going out of my house. I see only green space. You see that, you tell yourself that nothing beats freedom. Even if you have nothing outside, it is better to be outside anyway. I'd rather have nothing outside, be on the street than be locked up in nine square meters. I am almost eight years full with all the sorrows accumulated. 33 years, that's a quarter of my life in prison. Looking back, you wonder what you could have done during those eight years. I didn't see my children grow up because of this nonsense. The baby's first steps, the first words. The first time I came back, I had no children. You don't see it the same way. But there, since I have the little ones, it's not the same. The first customers arrive. Among them, the director of the integration and probation service. To help him find a job, he canvassed companies. - In principle, he would be ready. He is a boss who has social fiber. - Despite my efforts and my steps to find work, it did not succeed on my side. So there, he has a track on a factory of old tiles or briquettes. Two days later, the tile manufacturer offered Jonathan a permanent contract. - Taste me this one, it's homemade. Soon he may be able to get out of jail completely. To reconnect with the outside world, other inmates. Set up a mini business in the detention center. The goal is to learn how a society works. Profits are donated to charities. Among them, small and very long sentences. For 4 hours, every day of the week, they were allowed to transform a classroom into a manufacturing workshop. A prison produces a lot of waste. They asked management to recycle administrative paperwork into stationery. These techniques, they learned them on their own by trying experiments. They baptized their company after the hero of an Amerindian legend that has become an emblem of ecology. - We make envelopes, with the little writing paper inside. And above all, what is very, very interesting is our little hummingbird. There was a huge fire in the forest. All the terrified animals watched, helpless, the disaster. Only the little hummingbird was busy, fetching a few drops with its beak to throw them into the fire. After a while, the armadillo, annoyed by this ridiculous agitation, said to him:. - Hummingbird, you're not crazy. It's not with these drops of water that you're going to put out the fire. And the hummingbird replied:. - I know, but I'm doing my part. Recently, my sentencing judge, I gave him an envelope. He was surprised. - We end up in prison, that's a fact. We are not convicts, we want to be part of society. And to show that you can be part of society, you have to help do something in prison. We want to go out with our heads held high. This is my goal. In building D, Damien, the one who was confined is also working. But only inside the Respect module. He takes care of the garden. This is one of the activities offered in prison. - I never go on the big walk. I always go here. - Why don't you ever go there? - Because there are too many people. - What kind of problem did you have? - About drugs, all that. - No, but right here? - Here, I was forced to bring things in, I got caught and had to pay back. It creates problems, it puts pressure on my family to get things back. I'm not in jail to get even more into trouble. I am in prison precisely to reintegrate myself and get out as soon as possible. Moods and emotions fluctuate over the pain. Today, Damien is fine. Carole worries about another inmate. This morning, he remained locked in the cell. - You are calm here. Here, we still manage to preserve you a little bit. It's not like you took a gun to kill them. - No, but it's the same. - No, it's not the same at all. It's an accident. You are paying for what you have done, stop wanting to pay more. Unlike Rachid or Jonathan, Eric refuses to ask for parole. Three years ago, he was sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter. - Your life has stopped? - Yes. My life stopped the day of the accident. I was going to work, I was late and I was driving too fast. I lost control of my car, it went sideways, I hit a motorbike and a car coming in front. The people on the motorcycle are dead. I was an occasional cannabis user. I had smoked four days before. And as it remains a month in the blood, I was positive. - When the pain fell, did it seem like a lot to you? - No, I accepted it. They would have given me six years, I would not have said anything. Eight years, I would have said nothing. I didn't say anything, I didn't speak. - Why didn't you ask for a conditional? - Because I'll be out too soon. I didn't want to go out too early either. - You're the first to tell me that. - Yes, I live in prison, I could have been released after a third of the sentence, but I am paying my debt. If I had been alone, I would not have gone out. I would have gone all the way. If I go out, it's for my children and my wife. - Do you think that one day you will be able to forgive yourself? - We'll see. It's not by giving them money to people... What difference does it make to give it to them? What's the difference? Don't change anything, it won't bring them back. - What life did you have before this accident? - I had a normal life. I was working, my wife too. On weekends, we went hiking. No going out, no alcohol. A cushy life. Until the day I smoked my firecracker. In Eysses, the sentences range from 1 to 25 years. There are even two perpetuities. Robbers, killers, rapists, Carol rubs shoulders with the worst in humans every day. - I'm here to help him out, not to judge him. I don't like to know what they did. But most of the time they talk about it openly. So they will come to you and talk to you about it. Even when it's horrible stuff, you still have to be seasoned, because sometimes it's not nice to hear. But that's not going to taint my view of the inmate. The only time my position will change is when the prisoner says to me: "Here, I'm here for a sexual offense or another" and we find a laptop with child pornography images. Well, that's going to bother me. I pulled one out of here that didn't last very long. We took her out, I met her outside, in front of the schools. And I know what he is looking for in the schools, is to watch the children. Me, I know that I'm super protective because I don't want tomorrow, my daughter, to be able to trust anyone. She tells me that I'm afraid of everything. No, I just know what exists. It's summer and it's effervescence in building B. Today, Rachid goes before the sentence enforcement judge. - Oh man, I'm not out yet. - We wish you and we hope so. - And you, you have to move for yourself, I'm not kidding. You have to move for an adjustment of sentence. - I'll move. I'm getting my clothes ready for this afternoon. A suitable outfit, a small polo shirt with small jeans. - How did you choose your outfit? - It's not me who chose it, it's my wife. So everyone is a little stressed My little one is a teenager, so I have to go out, it's time. He is looking for himself and he is looking for his father. I have to go out to take care of him. And take care of my little family. - How long have they been waiting for you? - Four years. There are three kinds of release under duress. Placement under electronic bracelet, semi-freedom and there is the one that Rachid asks for, the simple conditional. Permission, remission, the sentence enforcement judge is at the center of all decisions. It rules on the file, except for conditional requests. He then receives the detainee during a hearing called contradictory debate. To assist him, Rachid has chosen a lawyer from a reputable firm in Agen. In this meeting room transformed into a courtroom, the judge, the prosecutor and the director of the integration and probation service. They represent the prison administration. The debate begins with the reminder of his locker. It includes thirteen convictions, in particular for carrying a weapon and violence. - The facts judged by the Criminal Court of Montpellier on February 21, 2017, therefore the seven-year sentence, the most important, consist of an organization for the transport of cocaine, grass and cannabis resin to Montpellier, in which you had a central role and you take a leading part. The court noted on page 18 of its judgment, I quote in quotation marks: "The particular mobility of an individual living officially on social minima, but in reality moving regularly day and night in Spain, even in Morocco. - Excuse I, Judge. - Excuse me, I'll give you the floor later. It should be noted that when he was imprisoned in a previous establishment, he intervened to help a guard who was being assaulted by an inmate armed with a knife. It's very positive. You acknowledge your participation in international drug trafficking. You have negotiated a timetable with the customs service and you are paying your customs fine of 133,000 euros up to 20 euros per month. - And there , I increased to 50 euros per month. - All right. Yes, because it was a little less than 600 years to settle. The judge is now interested in Rachid's exit plan. Work, accommodation, he sifts through everything . police services visited this type F4 apartment with three bedrooms on April 11, 2018 and found that it is impeccable but well kept and clean. So a police guarantee of the quality of the household. The job he found is therefore a permanent contract at 1,200 euros per month in a carpentry company. - This is not a job created especially for you and no diploma is necessary to occupy it. So I have a small question to ask first. This is the question of the distance between the place of accommodation located in Montpellier and the head office located in Carpentras. If we look at Mappy, 122 kilometers requiring 2 hours of driving. So it's true that you may not be working at the head office. But are you going to have work sites near Montpellier? - Sure. - Well, that was the question. - Today, you will end up with a Smic. - But I am ready to work for the Smic. - What allows us to know that this lure of profit will not reappear since you will find yourself with income much lower than what you could have had in the traffic that you organized? - Freedom is priceless and today I am ready to work. For the minimum wage, to see my children grow up, to be with my wife and to resume, as I told you, a normal life. - This time, if you are asked again, you will no longer give in to easy money. - No, I thought about it, I really understood that it's over. I no longer have contact with anyone. - Didn't you think maybe you could get away from Montpellier a little bit because it's the place where you committed most of the offenses for which you were convicted? - I agree with you. I have already found a job in Carpentras. I took a step. Then, I cannot move my wife and children since they are in school, my wife works. I can't take my family and leave. So there already, I have a job in Carpentras. I'm going to see what the boss offers me and eventually leave, of course. It's my goal. - But in Montpellier, there must still be a lot of people that you were able to rub shoulders with in your former criminal activities? Isn't it going to be difficult to avoid them on a daily basis? - No, not at all, no. I don't see those people anymore. So for me, they no longer exist. - I still have a final question. Would you accept a probationary electronic bracelet on condition? - No! - No. Because the electronic bracelet can only be put on with the consent of the person. We are quite clear. But the risk is that if I consider during my deliberations that this is a measure that is essential, I will have no choice but to refuse you the conditional. - It does not matter Mr. Judge, I will make a full prison. - Good. We will see. Sir, do you have anything to add? - Listen, trust me. That's all I have to tell you. - Good. Here sir, you can go. - Thank you. Bye and have a nice day. Rachid refuses the time constraints of an electronic bracelet. Two other factors play against it. - It does not smell good. His multiple recurrences and his return to Montpellier, the city where he committed these crimes. - Supervisor, I felt like I was being judged again, when I did seven years in prison. I'm making four of them. It makes me crazy. - That's what all the inmates tell us. - What do you actually want? You don't want us to go out. Fifteen days later, the judge granted her parole. The prosecutor appealed. - The goal is to avoid what are called dry exits. That is to say exits without any form of judicial follow-up. Do they have ideas of revenge? What is their project? What are they going to live on? We don't know anything at all. If a person is sentenced to thirty years and he knows he will do 30 no matter what, why would he behave? Why would she heal herself? Why will it compensate the victim? Why would she respond well to supervisors? She has no reason since anyway, whatever she does, she will be 30 years old. Whereas if a person behaves well, gets additional sentence reductions, that's a bit of a carrot. After Rachid, it's Jonathan's turn to go into adversarial debate. - This is the smoking room. These passages in front of the judge are always tense moments, especially when many of them are summoned like that day. With Jonathan, there is Eric, the one from the road accident. He ended up asking to go out on a bracelet. You spend an hour and a half here, you smoke a pack. The room is murky. You don't have the money to represent yourself, so you'll stay in prison. It's sad but it's the reality. You just have to work instead of steal. Forgive perhaps, never forget, because justice never forgets you. Neither does your mother. - We always say that everything you write, you will erase it one day. You come back one day to erase it. There's no point writing on the walls. After this sentence, I no longer have anything, no more probation, no more reprieve. I would really like to move on. There, on this sentence, it really cost me dearly. It cost me my partner, my couple and four years in prison. - It makes prison violent too. Going around in circles, sometimes we go crazy. - You spend your time waiting. Like Rachid, Jonathan will see his whole life pass by. 20 minutes later, the judge and the prosecutor decide to trust him, provided he gets a vehicle to get to work. - In the end, all favorable. There is the fact that this is the first permanent contract of my life. So obviously, you want to do everything to keep it. You will need the car purchase document. - Are you breathing? - Yes. One more week. Two weeks later, a friend of Jonathan's found him a used car. In building D, Carol is waiting for him to take inventory of his cell. Today he will be free. - What condition is he in? - Stress. The first two months are the hardest because there is no money until everything gets going. It's very complicated so the first two months are the most critical. It's make or break. - Well, you have everything there. Cutlery. Tea towels, napkins. A sheet, a blanket. Jonathan had to compensate the civil parties and help the mother of his children. Outside, he still has to pay for the car his friend found. - It's true that suddenly I go out with 750 euros, I give 700 euros for the car, and I only have 50 euros left. But then I'm very minimalist, I live with almost nothing. I have always lived with the minimum and that suits me. 50 euros is little money to rebuild your life. - The little tag they put your name and prison number on when you go to the hospital. - Why are you removing your name? - Because it's not my house anymore. I'm going downstairs. Take care. - Can I give you some advice? Stay outside. Thank you Carole for taking me to your building. It was complicated. - For supporting us above all. - I have never been given a hand as much as here in all my life. - Now we have to stay outside. - How does it feel to see the inmate leave? - It's always a pleasure. The goal is not to keep them all their life. No, it feels good. He is one of the people who arrived first. That is to say, it had to be extracted a little from the buildings. So yeah, he was a little overexcited. He couldn't actually settle down. And then not knowing what he was going to do, it was complicated. - The mitard made me think too. I did five days at the mitard, it served me well as a lesson. It is a book that closes. We'll open another one. Already, a new prisoner takes his place. - Your fridge, you leave it to me? - Is your buddy coming out? - Absolutely. - Good continuation. - Thank you Carol. This friend who came to pick him up is one of the few he has left after his two years in prison. He was the one who found a car to meet the judge's request. He takes Jonathan to get her. Meanwhile, another inmate has to say goodbye to his family. - Will you come to the visiting room? After five days of furlough, Jackson returns to prison. - I'm taking my little girl to me. Again, he has to leave the women in his life. - It hurts my heart. Quick, quick, let me get out. - It's hard because when he stays at home for a while, you get used to it. But I can't keep him with me and it's better for him that he can come back. But we don't see ourselves on the run with children, it's not possible. We would like to bring him back with us, but we can't. At 40 kilometers, Jonathan drives home in his new car. - I still missed it. I want to do a lot of things today. I know I couldn't do it all. It's like that. My children, I'm going to go see them after while getting my things back. Like many people who have known prison, he preferred to get away from the noise and the world. - There are too many temptations. There, I'm good. My new life will begin when I finish my parole. This is my home. Here we are. It is the house. His house is a former presbytery which he rents for 380 euros per month. When he was arrested, the mother of his children went back to live with her parents. She could no longer bear to be alone in this isolated countryside. - Welcome home. No one has been here for two years. Time has stood still. - I have no light anywhere. For now, there is no light. I do not know why. With his house, Jonathan finds his quickdraw. - Oh! The kitchen works! July 2017. I returned in January. Peeled tomatoes. December 31, 2018. It's dead. Oh, it's still violent. I'm home, damn it. It took a long time to come back. It's true that it feels good, it feels good to be at home. What I won't miss is the key. I go about my little everyday life, as before. Except there aren't my kids. I will go see them. It will do me good. And to know that I will be able to go see them whenever I want. tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, in ten days. All the experience I have had will serve me for the education of my children. The street, the home, the prison. I will do everything so that they do not go through this. A month later, Jonathan met a new fiancée. He left his CDI and went on to do the jobs he loves, cook, delivery driver, DJ. Rachid's conditional sentence was refused on appeal. He will go through with his sentence. It should be out in a year. In his new cell, Kevin still defies the law. He starts doing business. Vegetarian, he even monetizes the use of his fridge. - What are you asking in return? - A canteen or two. Damien got caught again. - This morning I went to the infirmary, cell search and they found the phone and the charger. This time he was expelled from building D. But three months later he was released from prison. The Hummingbirds of the mini company won a competition organized between several prisons. They won an insertion prize. As for Leiwen, she is six months old. Sentenced to eight years in prison, his father asked for a release on a bracelet. She was denied him. - I don't see the end of it. He tells me that I will be better when he is outside. - How long has it been? - Two years. - And how long are you ready to wait? - Until the end.
