Video Letters from Prison is an hour-long film that takes an unflinching look at the powerful role a father plays in the lives of his children. The film follows three young Lakota girls from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota as they form a tentative relationship with their incarcerated father through the exchange of video letters.
The filmmakers document the years that follow as the family mends and each girl matures, finding her own sense of identity and purpose. Included are a first visit to the prison, interviews with their mother, Cindy Wheeler, and their father, Marvin Poor Bear, and finally the filming of each of the girls’ high school graduations. Jolena, the youngest daughter, moves from being “futureless” to being awarded a Gates Millennium Scholarship at her graduation.