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, it follows six women returning to HMP Holloway in London before demolition began a year later. 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: “Fuck, I remember this smell,” says one. During a week-long workshop the women – brave and unfailingly articulate – share their stories. All of them experienced trauma in childhood, most masked it with drugs or alcohol, or unhealthy relationships. Of the six, two are now charity CEOs: Aliyah Ali and Mandy Ogunmokun, who both work to support disadvantaged women. The poet Lady Unchained is also in the group.
The sessions, chairs arranged in a circle in the old prison chapel, are intimate and tough to watch. “I’ll always be sad my whole life,” says one woman, reflecting on her experience of childhood sexual abuse. Leading the seasons is workshop facilitator Lorraine, and a trauma psychotherapist sits in too. In the hands of other film-makers, this could feel exploitative – or at the very least leave you concerned for the mental wellbeing of the participants after the cameras switch off. But the film producers explain at length in notes provided that their process involved working with the six women, who had a say in the final edit and were given access throughout to a psychotherapist. Their collaborative documentary feels like essential viewing for policymakers.
• Holloway is in UK cinemas from 20 June.
