Earlier this month, our Director, Richard Garside, attended a private screening of films made by serving prisoners in Downview women’s prison and Isis men’s prison.
The screening, organised filmmakers Dee O’Neill and Mike Wayne, showcased films the prisoners had themselves created, including scriptwriting, acting, filming and editing.
The films were created under the auspices of Inside Film, set up by Dee in 2006 to teach filmmaking theory and practice to serving and, later, ex-prisoners.
As Dee explained on the night:
The idea behind the Inside film project is that we create a space for people who don’t usually have access to the means of media production so they can make films in which they author their own narratives and don’t have their stories filtered through a middle class perspective by people who do not share their experiences.
After a successful run of the Inside Film project at Downview, the plan is to set up a permanent film studio in the prison. This would make it possible to run the course for longer and to include workshops on such subjects as scriptwriting and acting. Dee and Mike also hope to be able to award a qualification at the end of the course.
Richard said:
There was a great authenticity to the films we watched. They were touching, funny, thought-provoking and challenging. Filmmaking is such a great way for prisoners, and indeed anyone else, to explore thoughts, feelings and ideas. It’s great that prisoners at Downview and Isis had the opportunity to work with Dee and Mike. There should be more opportunities for prisoners to do these kinds of things.
