Conviction (2019)

After learning of the shocking statistic that women are the fastest growing prison population worldwide, three filmmakers walked into a Canadian prison with a very simple question for the women inside: What would have needed in society to have not ended up here? In Conviction, Ackerman, Pahlke, and MacInnes, take a unique and creative collaborative approach with women on the inside, Bianca Mercer, Treena Smith, Laura Toney, Caitlin Hill, as well as prison guard, Tanya Bignell, to answer that question. They paint, draw, sing, photograph and film, envisioning a more ideal world, authoring their own narratives through art. They join advocates and Senator Kim Pate, in a worldwide movement questioning the ideas of punishment and prison. It implores the viewer to ask why it is that we imprison our most vulnerable - those who are battling childhood traumas, mental health issues and addiction. Not another 'broken prison' film, this collaboration is a 'broken society' film-an ambitious and inspired re-build of our community, from the inside out.