Local creative agency wins award for ‘hard-hitting’ prison film

A local creative agency and documentary creator has won an award for a film about women serving life without parole in a Pennsylvania prison.

Tusko, based in St Paul’s, won a Royal Television Society (RTS) award for its “hard-hitting” film, Women Lifers: Pennsylvania’s women serving Life Without Parole.

The film’s “captivating interviews” and “intimate storytelling” won it the award for best short form in film and television at the prestigious award ceremony.

Judges called the film “a really poignant piece.”

The documentary gives viewers access to a group of women prisoners in a US maximum-security prison, all “lifers”.

Each case highlighted in the film is retold in atmospheric noir gothic animation – photo: Tusko

In Pennsylvania, a life sentence means the whole of your natural life, with no possibility of parole.

A person can receive mandatory Life Without Parole (LWOP) if they are convicted of first or second-degree murder, even if you were only present at the incident and were not accused of being the person who ‘pulled the trigger’.

Each case highlighted in the film is retold in atmospheric noir gothic animation, to portray the outcome of being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people, from being in the car while a boyfriend kills his ex-wife in anger in a house to having their learning disabilities taken advantage of.

The documentary features prominent criminologists, lawyers and sociologists, who discuss how women are treated more harshly than men in this criminal justice system.

The women in the film have been inside for three or four decades, making a life for themselves there. They have formed a singing group in jail, The Lady Lifers, where they sing about their lives, their bad decisions, and their hope of seeing home some day through moving blues ballads.

The documentary features an interview with Senator Stewart Greenleaf of the Pennsylvania State Senate, who makes a candid confession in the film: “I was a very aggressive prosecutor.

“I was probably the prime sponsor of more mandatory minimum sentences than you can think of. We thought that by doing that, being tough on crime, it would make our streets safer, but that was a failed system. I got carried away with regard to that issue.”

The film hopes to persuade people in positions of power to rethink the idea of ‘culpable homicide’, especially in the state of Pennsylvania, where Life without Parole can have devastating consequences.

The producer and director of the film, and CEO of Tusko, Jake. J Smith said “It seems clear to me that we can’t treat all cases, all the time, in such a black and white manner and send people to prison for the rest of their lives.”

Women Lifers: Pennsylvania’s women serving Life Without Parole will be available to view via Tusko’s channels shortly.

Main photo: Tusko

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