BT-13. A Place to Stand

USA, Feature Documentary, 2013, 86 min

When Jimmy Santiago Baca was 21, he began a five-year narcotics sentence at Arizona State Prison. Coming from a childhood of abuse and abandonment, Jimmy was filled with sadness, rage and pain. He became a violent prisoner, spending nearly half his sentence in isolation because of his constant fighting. But then one day his life changed. Even though he was functionally illiterate, Jimmy inexplicably stole a book off a prison desk. He taught himself to read and write, and discovered the unbelievable power of language and poetry to express how he felt. Jimmy is in his 60s now and is an award-winning poet, novelist and screenwriter who travels the country teaching writing workshops in prisons. A Place to Stand explores the life of a man who embraced language as a balm for his battered spirit, and a man who?through the power of poetry?finally found his place to stand.