American filmmaker Garrett Bradley is known for blending cinematic genres to investigate sociopolitical significance through her motion pictures. Her 2020 documentary film, Time, is no different as it tells a story of a significant loss, centered around Fox Rich and her family’s story. 

How to watch ‘Time’?

Time, which will be streaming on Amazon Prime Video from October 16, stitches together a tale of struggle and resilience from the recordings of Fox Rich’s two-decade-long fight to free her husband, Robert G. Rich, who is serving a sixty-year sentence for robbery. 

The documentary’s plot is about the aftermath of lengthy incarceration on people of both sides of the prison system.

‘Time’ is a Real-life Story of a Woman’s Fight for her Husband

Shibil Fox Richardson (widely known as Fox Rich) and her husband Rob had been both arrested for a credit union’s attempted robbery. Both of whom were first-time offenders; the duo turned to robbery to keep their urban clothes store alive.

A mother of six, Fox Rich, served three years while Rob was sentenced to 60 years inside cells in 1999.

Time follows Rich’s story as she tries to free her husband, who is to be incarcerated for six whole decades for an attempted armed robbery where no one was hurt, and no money was stolen.

The documentary movie switches anywhere between twenty years of Fox Rich’s journey, from her days as a struggling mother taking care of her kids to a successful entrepreneur and abolitionist. Oftentimes, the movie juxtaposes Fox Rich at her low and high points to highlight how the course of time has changed her and her family, also focusing on how her children grew up without a father.

Rob was released from Angola Prison in September of 2018 after serving 21 years of his 60-year sentence.

'Time' was Received Well at Sundance Film Festival

Time premiered at Sundance Film Festival in the US, which ran from January 23 to February 2, 2020. The documentary was received very well at the annual film festival as Garrett Bradley won Best Director for US Documentary, making her the first black woman to win in the US documentary category.

Time was a project that came to fruition after Garrett Bradley met Fox Rich in New Orleans during Garrett’s 2017 documentary short, Alone (Op-Docs). Garrett had sought Fox’s help in the making of Alone.because of the latter’s reputation as a prison activist. 

The documentary short told the story of Alone Watts, a woman from Louisiana who was having trouble deciding whether she should marry her incarcerated boyfriend.

Bradley draws Inspiration From Black Filmmaker Group L.A Rebellion

The 34-year-old filmmaker was born in New York City, but she moved to Los Angeles in 2007 to attend film school at the University of California. There, she was inspired by the L.A. Rebellion film movement (generation of young African and African-American filmmakers who studied at the UCLA Film School in the late 1960s to the late 1980s and created a black cinema that was much different than the classical Hollywood).

The L.A. Rebellion helped her solidify what she wanted to convey through her films. She makes sure that her motion pictures aren’t just a form of art, but rather are occasions for a community’s vision to find expression. 

What’s next for Garrett Bradley?

Her filmmaking journey may have started with a Hi8 camcorder on loan from her school, but it is not stopping any time soon. With thought-provoking projects like Below Dreams (2014), Cover Me (2015), America (2019), and Time (2020) already under her belt, one can only imagine what she will direct next.