40 Years a Prisoner: inside the shocking story of a long fight for justice

In a new documentary, film-maker Tommy Oliver explores the struggle to free black radical group Move Nine and the systemic racism that led to their imprisonment

About 20 minutes into 40 Years a Prisoner, Tommy Oliver's powerful new documentary about the decades-long struggle to free the incarcerated black radicals known as the Move Nine, the film-maker accompanies the central character in his movie, Mike Africa Jr, back to the place of his birth.

The camera follows Africa as he walks down the eerily abandoned corridor of G Wing in Philadelphia's House of Corrections, its paint peeling and doors ajar, until he comes to the last cell. He enters the tiny white concrete cell, empty now but for two metal cots, one of which he lies down upon. The number of times ..." he says, staring up at the ceiling without finishing the sentence.