When you hear a woman describe herself as a charity founder, a CEO, a business owner, an actress, an activist, or a mother, you immediately envisage a successful, well-put-together woman with fiery determination to put forth a version of themselves as a role model. What you would not expect is that these wildly accomplished women had to fight tooth and nail to break free from a system that had them bound to be institutionalised for the rest of their lives. Perception is a double-edged sword that can inflict harm on those being perceived and those perceiving others. The audience award-winning documentary at the 2024 London Film Festival, Holloway, completely obliterates these perceptions, opening our eyes to what it means to be a convict and the adversity faced in escaping this system.
Aliyah Ali, Mandy Ogunmokun, Lady Unchained, Sarah Cassidy, Tamar Mujanay, and Gerrah Selby all have, in a chapter of their lives, been convicted, serving their time in the infamous HM Prison Holloway, the largest women’s prison in Europe. The prison, based in London, has a deeply troubling history involving the suffragettes being imprisoned there as well as the neglect of the convict Sarah Reid, which subsequently led to her suicide. In 2016, Holloway had closed, and in 2018, it was demolished to be developed into affordable housing. Previously, directors Sophie Compton and Daisy-May Hudson were able to film inside the prison with the six women, as shown in Holloway.
The documentary unfolds over five days, where the women, strangers to one another, are encouraged to build a safe space to unearth some of the harrowing experiences and hardships they faced before, during, and after their sentences. These range from their traumatic upbringings, mistreatment in prison, and lack of support in finding their feet after incarceration. The crew captured the intimate and raw initial reactions with each other. The strongest editing moments are when cuts are made from the person speaking to someone listening with a very visceral reaction. Editor Stella Heath Keir understands that it is what is not said between these women that speaks volumes, emphasising the immediate distrustful wall they put up.
Compton and Hudson consciously chose to set the feature fully on the prison grounds, meaning we had no context on who the women were outside of Holloway. Their identity was shackled to the prison. You cannot help but feel trapped in there with them, where they were forced to either split open barely healed wounds or open up all the repressed anguish in the place that caused them the suffering. This became very symbolic of the invisible tether that they felt towards Holloway, even after years of moving on, reinforcing how institutions like these can have lasting negative impacts on those subjected to them.
The directors’ decision to make the participants co-creators of the project elevated the storytelling, making it more authentic to watch. The women regain some of the agency they lost whilst at Holloway, and even before then. This is clear when we hear Mandy speaking up about what they want and do not want filmed to the producers, as well as the positioning of the cameras. They even took their co-creator roles seriously in post-production, giving their brutally honest opinions on cuts they were sent and highlighting the fact that they wanted more humour in the feature, as they mentioned in a Q&A at their gala screening at Picturehouse Central London.
While we mainly witness the conversations in a large central room, there are sequences spliced in between where the women visit the cells they occupied during their sentences. The deliberate silhouette shots of these women fill the barren rooms with life, irradiating the stories that are held within its walls. Cinematographer Sarah Cunningham captures this behind partially open doors, adding another layer of intimacy to this already tender moment.
The most powerful message revolves around the mindset of workers at institutions like Holloway, which is brought up so eloquently and naturally in conversation. One of the women muses on the fact that those with positions of authority continually asked questions like “What have you done this time?” and not “What has happened to you to get yourself to this point?” There was no step back to look at the bigger picture.
What this film makes abundantly clear is that, in one way or another, intergenerational trauma from a young age can have a lasting impact on the livelihood of a growing child, and that there needs to be radical change to how the current system supports vulnerable children.
All I can express is my gratitude to the immense amount of bravery these women possess to speak their truth on a topic that is so stigmatised and misunderstood. Ladies, thank you for bearing your souls for all to see.
To keep fighting for a better tomorrow and spread awareness, below are some organizations fighting to bring positive change:
Review Courtesy of Nandita Joshi
Feature Image Courtesy of British Film Institute
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