Remote patrol

Angola Prison, the Louisiana facility so notoriously aligned with violence and corruption that the federal government took it over for a time in the 1970s, casts its mark indelibly on residents and guests alike. Even those souls lucky enough to be discharged will say, years later, that they still dream about Angola as if they had never left. The prison also has been fertile ground for filmmaker Jonathan Stack, whose film about Angola life, "The Farm," won two Emmys and was nominated for an Oscar in 1999. Stack returned to make "The Wildest Show in the South: Angola Prison Rodeo," which airs in expanded form at 7 tonight on Discovery. The Angola Prison Rodeo, open to the public, is pretty much as advertised. Prisoners, many of them with little ranching or riding experience, volunteer to ride a bull or play rodeo cowboy, risking life and limb for a $60 top prize. They're also competing for something even more valuable: a rare dose of public approval. The rodeo is one of those events that needs little embellishment or packaging: Just turn on your camera and let people talk. You probably haven't seen an event called "Guts and Glory" at any other rodeo. That's because it's a competition only rank amateurs with nothing to lose would be crazy enough to enter. >>>