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LOCKDOWN

About the Movie

director: Brenda Longfellow

Toronto, Ontario

May 2020

5min 20sec

shot on:

edited with:

If there’s anyone who knows how to survive a lockdown it’s federally sentenced women.

“LOCKDOWN weaves together zoom conversations with 6 formerly incarcerated women who offer advice on how to survive a lockdown. They put current government-imposed restrictions into perspective, and model how resilience, humour (and puppy love) can get us through this.

I have been collaborating with a group of about 15 formerly incarcerated women in the Vancouver area for the past two years. Some of the women are recently released and living in half-way houses, others have been on the outside for several years. All of them are passionate advocates for prison justice.

Once every couple of months, we have shared talking circles, facilitated by Elders. I filmed with many of the women in studio and we were in the process of creating a video installation called The Circle. As we now have no idea when we will have access to physical space, we decided to convert the footage into an online experience. Making LOCKDOWN gave me a precious opportunity to get back in touch with the women and to continue learning from them.” – Brenda Longfellow