Songs Inside

Beyond just learning how to sing and play the ukulele, these 10 women are writing their own songs –in preparation for a prison community performance with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. The Songbird program, helmed by First Nations singer-songwriter Nancy Bates, is designed to boost confidence and self-worth –but it requires much of the participants, all of whom struggle with the impacts of trauma and addiction. Though the women open up a little more with every song, each rehearsal, laying bare one’s traumas can be overwhelming. Director Shalom Almond spent six months filming in the Adelaide Women’s Prison with unprecedented access, and the result is both shocking and uplifting.