Madeleine Sackler is an Emmy-winning director and producer. Her films include 2010’s “The Lottery” and 2013’s “Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus.”

“O.G.” will premiere at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival on April 20.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

MS: Louis (Jeffrey Wright) is preparing to leave prison after 24 years. After being jumped by a young man named Beecher, Louis must decide if he will help protect Beecher from the gangs, risking his own release.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

MS: I learned that nearly everyone — over 95 percent — of people who are in prison today will be released. Around 400,000 people walk out of prison — every year! That felt like an enormous number of people, and yet I’d only seen prison films and TV shows that seemed to sensationalize the experience of being incarcerated, and so I became curious about what that experience was really like for someone getting ready to go “home.”

I wanted to work with men in a prison to make a true prison film, reflecting the complexity of the emotions and experiences that this character, Louis, might have.

W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?

MS: We have been caging people who have committed crimes for centuries. Rather than understanding why the person committed the crime, and repairing that harm, and rehabilitating the person, and supporting the victim, our system is based on punishment. I wanted to go behind the walls and meet the people, not the crimes.

The crimes are a part of their life, but where did they come from before that? How is their time in prison impacting their lives, their future, their community? What are they feeling about their release dates? When they leave prison, what are they walking into?

I hope that as people are leaving the theater, they can begin to imagine what it would be like to leave prison, and to see the horizon for the first time in 24 years.

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

MS: The biggest challenge was figuring out how to shoot a film in a maximum-security prison, casting men who are incarcerated there. It was challenging logistically, but also how to do it creatively, since most of the cast had never acted or been around cameras before.

But at the same time, that challenge was also what made the experience of making “O.G.” and [my other film screening at Tribeca,] “It’s a Hard Truth, Ain’t It,” so powerful, and what brought so many people together who wouldn’t otherwise even be in the same room. Having the opportunity to get to know hundreds of people I wouldn’t otherwise have met, with experiences so different from my own, was a dream for me.

As a woman who chose to make a movie with an almost entirely male, incarcerated cast, making these films broadened my perspectives about the human experience, and the connectivity between all of us. I feel very lucky to have had that experience.

W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.

MS: The film was independently financed with individual investors.

W&H: What does it mean for you to have your film play at Tribeca Film Festival?

MS: It’s so exciting to have the film premiering at Tribeca, in New York City, at a festival that is so conscious and open-minded about films, issues, and finding ways to have positive impact on the world. It will be very special for me, after the last few years of working in the prison, to introduce audiences to some of the men I got to know so well.

I’m curious about what questions people will ask, and which part of the story they will feel most connected to, especially people who have never been to a prison before.

W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?

MS: I think the best advice I’ve received is to push myself to be vulnerable, which means taking risks and being open, and to seek out people to work with who share your values. Also not to give up.

I suppose the only bad advice I’ve received was to sign over rights to content that I owned without the relationship being solidified, because it would have sped things up, but thankfully, I didn’t do that. I wouldn’t suggest that.

W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?

MS: For me it’s helpful to stay open, to try to seek out like-minded people, and to be patient as those relationships develop, and challenges emerge, but being sure to stick to the vision of the film.

W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.

MS: There are so many. One that comes to mind is “Stories We Tell,” Sarah Polley’s film. I loved the non-traditional narrative, the mix of documentary and narrative filmmaking, the honesty of it, the relationships.

I love Lynne Ramsay’s film, “Morvern Callar” — her characters always stay with me and there’s always at least one scene that will play over and over in my head.