Take a few women in prison, some ukuleles, a master song teacher, and a camera, and you have the kind of documentary that documentaries were made for.
In 2o23, Shalom Almond filmed the workshops that the artist Nancy Bates was running in the Adelaide Women’s Prison. We watch the group coalesce around the idea that they could be musicians, and travel with them as they ride the hectic wave that is time inside. Needless to say its not an easy ride, and the film captures the anguish, heartbreak, stoicism and the laughs that make up the days of the prisoners lives.
Nancy Bates is inspirational in the way she makes all of the women feel like they can be songwriters, and the tracks they create are already good, but when the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra gets involved, the whole pitch is taken to the next level.
The ticking clock of a concert that will be held in the prison grounds with the whole orchestra adds not only a big driver to get things right, but creates heart- wrenching moments for those who might not be able to perform on the day- some because they’re getting released and don’t know what’s happening to them next, and some because the cat-and-mouse game of drug use inside is catching up with them.
Directed And Filmed By Shalom Almond
Produced By Katrina Lucas, Lauren Drewery, Shalom Almond
Co-Producer Nancy Bates
Edited By David Scarborough
Score Composer Amanda Brown
Screening at Sydney Film Festival 2025
World Premiered at Adelaide Film Festival 2024.
Starring the prisoners and staff of Adelaide Women’s Prison and members of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
AWP Song Birds: Nancy Bates, Clancy, Donna, Erin ,Fabiann, Jeanine, Khe-Sanh, Laticia, Malise, Noelene, Simone, Tamiah, Tina
It’s a credit to the prison and Correctional Services that the whole project was able to happen, especially getting an orchestra into a prison at the end. Its a life- changing event for those who were there, and a life- affirming moment for those who watch the film. It’s not just about entertainment however, and the film is part of a much bigger advocacy project that aims to effect real change in the lives of women who leave prison. Jobs, housing, safety, support, domestic violence, addictions, and just not having enough friends, are the issues that plague prison leavers lives, and end up with them either falling back into the justice system unintentionally, or choosing to go back inside because life there is better.
