by Rosella Schillaci
In this article, Schillaci writes about the making of the documentary film Ninna nanna prigioniera (2016), filmed inside a special block within Turin, Italy’s jail, where convicted mothers can choose to have their children living with them in a cell until they are three years old. The filmmaker retraces the various stages of the project, from conception to pre-production and filming. She describes research questions, themes at the heart of the film’s story, and points of view adopted in its direction, as well as her relationship with the protagonists and with the prison system itself.