You can be told the statistics: 30% of women in prison spent time in care as children, and 70% have been the victim of domestic abuse. But what this powerful documentary from Sophie Compton and Daisy-May Hudson (the latter of whom is the director of just-released film Lollipop) does is to demonstrate the cruelty and injustice of a system that incarcerates the vulnerable.
Shot in 2021, the film follows six women as they return to the now abandoned HMP Holloway Prison in Central London to share some of their most intimate experiences. They describe their prison lives, reveal what led them to prison, and collectively build an eye-opening portrait of trauma and failing systems.
‘Hugely powerful…hard to shake’ The Financial Times
In the first scenes, they walk back into the prison, some into their old cells. The building is abandoned, ivy creeps up through the floorboards, but it’s still Holloway: “I remember this smell,” says one. They share their stories – all of them experienced trauma in childhood, most masked it with drugs or alcohol, or unhealthy relationships. After a week in the now empty Holloway Prision we witness a vivid transformation as they demonstrate their extraordinary capacity to heal one another.
Of the six, two are now charity CEOs who both work to support disadvantaged women.
The documentary is followed by a Q&A session with the film’s producers.