From the Visit Room to the Festival

A SERIES of animations made by children of men in custody, along with their dads, have been screened at the Edinburgh International Festival.

The unique project aimed at supporting relationships and the mental health of families was run at HMP Barlinnie in partnership with the Bethany Christian Trust,

Six children attended the establishment every week for three months to work alongside their fathers and professional theatre-maker and storyteller Sam Rowe, with the support of the establishment’s Family Contact Officers.

During the sessions, the families explored creative writing and expression through different storytelling exercises. They made characters from airdry clay, created sets inside cardboard boxes and arranged photo-storyboards.

Their tales ‘Winnie the Witch’, a mean old witch who learns to be loving and kind when her neighbours help her out and ‘Stu and Steve, Monster Detectives’, a suspicious monster who causes panic on the beach but is all as it seems…?, were then brought to life by professional animators.

To complete the short films, the children and their dads also recorded all the dialogue and sound effects from the children’s visit room within HMP Barlinnie.

One grandparent  said: “This project has been amazing. It has given my son and his daughter the opportunity to do something completely unique together. It allowed imagination to run riot, and I think it encouraged all the individuals to reflect on time spent with their kids and what they are missing out on. It’s the best thing we have taken part in [since my son has been in prison], so thank you.”

Mr Rowe added: “I really want to thank the EIF for instigating this project, and the family contact officers at HMP Barlinnie for the huge amount of work they took on organising everything on the ground. It was a wonderful opportunity to use art and storytelling to bring family members together through a shared experience. The feedback we’ve received has been wonderful, so we are very excited about finding ways to replicate what we established in years to come.”

The families and staff from the prison were invited to see their finished creations at a special screening at the Edinburgh International Festival at the beginning of August.

They also had the opportunity to watch the Scottish premiere of ‘Please right back’, an animation created by award-winning production company, 1927. It explores the difficulties children go through when a parent leaves the family, while celebrating the power of the imagination to help navigate difficult times.

A screening was also held within the prison so that all the participants could watch together.