Film Synopsis:

For more than two decades, the Arkansas prison system profited from selling blood plasma from inmates infected with viral hepatitis and AIDS.

Thousands of unwitting victims who received transfusions of a product called Factor 8 made from this blood died as a result.

Follow along as filmmaker Kelly Duda uncovers the tragedy that many consider a crime. Through exclusive interviews and key documents as well as never-before-seen footage, he builds a formidable case that cries out to be heard. See in-depth interviews with a wide variety of players including: victims in Canada who contracted the diseases, state prison officials, former employees, high-ranking Arkansas politicians, and inmate donors, all of which paint a horrifying portrait of what happened.

Why did the state of Arkansas and its prison system risk selling inmates’ blood for so long and how was it able to continue?

Factor 8: The Arkansas Prison Blood Scandal is an unsettling look at the complex issues surrounding prison corruption, blood safety and government oversight. This feature length documentary takes the viewer into the underbelly of the good ole boy South, and, like a Grisham novel, delivers disturbing subplots, amazing coincidences and a possible conspiracy.

At the heart of the documentary is one reporter’s dogged search for the truth. He discovers that his home state knew it was dealing a dangerous product, yet put profits over public safety while federal regulators looked the other way. Charges of cronyism and cover-up reach all the way to the administration of then-Gov. Bill Clinton. And, years before he would assume higher office, the question of “what did he know and when did he know it” comes into play.

Add death threats, burglary, and a murder to the story and a suspected campaign of fear and intimidation surfaces lending explanation to how this story was kept quiet for so long.

Even now, families are still grieving. People are still dying. Around the world major classaction lawsuits have been filed and criminal investigations are underway. While the rest of the globe looks to America for answers, the story remains largely untold and no one has ever been held accountable.

Factor 8 is one citizen’s attempt to set that right.

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