WUNRN
Women Make Movies
THE GREY AREA: FEMINISM BEHIND BARS
- WOMEN IN PRISON - FILM
FILM SEGMENT: http://www.wmm.com/advscripts/wmmvideo.aspx?pid=201
A
film by Noga
Ashkenazi
US,
2012, 65 minutes, Color, DVD, English
THE
GREY AREA is an intimate look at women’s issues in the criminal justice system
and the unique experience of studying feminism behind bars.
Through
a series of captivating class discussions, headed by students from Grinnell
College, a small group of female inmates at a maximum women’s security prison
in Mitchellville, Iowa, share their diverse experiences with motherhood, drug
addiction, sexual abuse, murder, and life in prison. The women, along with
their teachers, explore the “grey area” that is often invisible within the
prison walls and delve into issues of race, class, sexuality and gender.
The number of women in prison has grown by over 800% in the past three decades,
two thirds are mothers and are incarcerated for non-violent offenses and more
than 80% have been victims of domestic violence or sexual assault at some point
in their lives. THE GRAY AREA is an important look into the complex factors
behind these statistics and how feminism sheds light and brings hope to those
incarcerated. This is an excellent film to prompt discussion in women’s
studies, courses that include prison reform or violence against women, American
studies and sociology.