PBS to Premiere My Father's Prison Documentary

The film explores the imprisonment of Iván Simonovis in Venezuela through the lens of family resilience.

Updated on Oct. 20, 2026 in Hispanic

PBS to Premiere My Father's Prison Documentary

The documentary My Father's Prison will debut on the PBS App and PBS.org on October 20, 2026. The film chronicles the 30-year sentence of Iván Simonovis, who spent over eight years held in the El Helicoide facility in Venezuela.

Why it matters

The documentary serves as a personal effort to challenge state-controlled historical narratives while highlighting the profound impact of incarceration on families. It underscores the broader demographic realities faced by Latino communities regarding parental imprisonment.

Affected families face an average annual income loss of $26,000 due to parental incarceration. Additionally, Latino adults are 70 percent more likely than white adults to be incarcerated for more than a year.

The players

Iván Simonovis

He is a former Venezuelan official who was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2009.

Edward James Olmos

He is a renowned actor and filmmaker who co-founded Latino Public Broadcasting in 1998.

Latino Public Broadcasting

This organization has operated for 28 years and has earned over 125 awards including two George Foster Peabody Awards.

The details

The filmmaker utilized 25 years of personal archives, including birthday recordings and phone calls, to document his father's experience. The film captures the family's struggle as Iván Simonovis attempted to relearn daily household rhythms after being returned to house arrest and eventually escaping Venezuela.

Political violence in Caracas occurred on April 11, 2002.
Iván Simonovis was sentenced to prison in 2009.
Latino Public Broadcasting was co-founded in 1998.
The documentary premieres on the PBS App and PBS.org on October 20, 2026.

Culture Shift

The documentary release follows a pattern set by the 1998 founding of Latino Public Broadcasting to elevate underrepresented narratives. This project signals a continued commitment to using personal archives to humanize the systemic impacts of political instability.

Viewers can stream the documentary starting October 20, 2026, through digital PBS platforms. The film prompts audiences to consider the financial and emotional challenges faced by families dealing with parental incarceration in the United States.

The takeaway

This film demonstrates how personal archives can provide a powerful counter-narrative to official accounts of political history. It encourages families to preserve their own histories as a means of resilience against systemic hardships.