Filmmaking Behind Bars
Among the most isolated people in Slovenia are the inmates of high security prisons. Prisoners, disconnected from the outside world, are living a life of routine waiting for their penalty to end. Every opportunity to break the monotony and connect to the outside world has a huge impact on their daily lives.
Tone Poljanec, Tina Glavič Novak, and Uroš Lebar from the Cultural Society Center 21 (Kulturno društvo center 21) and the production team Hupa Brajdič attempted to break the inmates’ routine with a film workshop. Their goal was to make a feature film. The prisoners were first introduced to film theory and equipment handling, and then encouraged to come up with a scenario – they got to tell their story and decide how they would put it across. They decided on a parody, describing prison as a luxurious place, where one’s bags get carried by a clerk, the guards do inmates’ daily work, and the convicts have to pretend they are connected to criminal activities to give the guards a purpose and make them happy.
Besides the fun, the workshop provided the prisoners with the opportunity to self-reflect. This is evident in the documentary scenes: we can see inmates pondering on prison life, on themselves, and on their future. The art making experience gave them an opportunity to disconnect from the mundane routine of everyday life in prison and to disrupt the order of the institution, to feel liberated.
“If we are talking about marginal groups, I think it is important to give them an opportunity to speak, it is important to give them power – to involve them as much as possible in all project implementation processes.”
URB_ART spoke to Tone Poljanec, a filmmaker and a member of Cultural Society Center 21 (www.center-21.blogspot.com)and Hupa Brajdič production team (www.hupabrajdic.com). He focuses on artistic workshops, filmmaking, theatre and other multidisciplinary artistic projects.
Links: About the film / View on YouTube
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