Event

Prison Performing Arts: The Voice Within @ St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase

Lisa Rhoden Boyd, 83 min.

In The Voice Within, inmates at the womens prison in Vandalia, Mo., participate in a two-week Prison Performing Arts (PPS) workshop and take an unforgettable journey into the depths of each others lives. The film demonstrates the transformational power that creating art has for incarcerated individuals, offering a compelling validation of PPAs long-standing mission. The documentary features portions of PPAs first commissioned play, Run-On Sentence, and includes interviews with PPAs late founder, Agnes Wilcox, playwright Stacie Lents, and PPA artistic director Christopher Limber. The film also movingly relates the stories of many of the imprisoned women and their mothers, sisters, and children. The Voice Within is directed by Lisa Rhoden Boyd, who was cited for Best Direction in the documentary category for An American Tragedy at last years Showcase.