Voices From Inside
Women Prisoners and Their Children Speak Out

A film by Karina Epperlein


distributed by
New Day Films

new_day_films


PREMIERE:
San Francisco:
Film Arts Foundation Festival, 1996

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Voices from Inside

"I found it beautifully made and very moving. It is so important for us on the outside to realize what 'treasures' are hidden away on the inside."

— Susan Sarandon



Watch Clip

video documentary, 60 minutes, ©1996
**National Council on Crime and Delinquency's PASS Award**

Voices From Inside follows a German born theater artist into a federal women's prison. She encourages a racially mixed circle of women to find their own voices through poetry and creative expression, and meets their children on the outside. The prisoners tell their life stories and share their experience of prison life. Voices From Inside shatters conventional stereotypes about crime, criminals and race. An inspiring experiment in breaking the walls with love!


"A stunning film! It gives a very valuable picture of how women come to be in prison, and the futility of keeping them there."
—LESLIE ACOCA, senior researcher, National Council on Crime & Delinquency

"Every legislature that lavishes money on building prisons -- and starves programs that rebuild dignity—should be put in a room with this unforgettable story of four women's lives."

—GLORIA STEINEM

Screenings

  • American Sociological Association
  • PARNU Int'l Documentary Film Festival (Finland)Charlotte Film & Video Festival
  • Windy City Int'l Documentary Festival (Honorable Mention)
  • National Women's Studies Association
  • American Anthropological Association (Annual Meeting)
  • Denver Int'l Film Festival
  • Arizona Int'l Film Festival
  • Finalist USA Film Festival
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Update on two of the women in the film:

Aida McCray Robinson founded her own non-profit, "Families with a Future," to provide emotional support groups and grants to children and families with incarcerated mothers. She received the Violence Prevention award in 1999 from the California Wellness Foundation. She graduated from San Francisco State University and is currently working on family reunification and parenting at the SF County jails.

Dylcia Pagan and eleven other Puerto Rican political prisoners were given clemency in September of 1999. She moved to Puerto Rico.

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