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The Quilters is a 32-minute documentary that follows a men’s quilting group inside a maximum security prison in Licking, Missouri, as they create personalized quilts for local foster children.
“Independent filmmaker Jennifer McShane came to Missouri to make her second documentary about prison life, focusing on an unusual group of men at South Central Correctional Center south of St. Louis.
“The access she was given inside the maximum security facility included permission to screen the film for the inmates. Along the way, she learned an important lesson about what not to do when showing a movie inside a prison.
“‘In a rookie moment,’ McShane told Deadline in an interview last year, ‘I accidentally started to go up to turn off the lights — because you always watch a movie without lights on. Well, not in a max prison. So they all rush, ‘Jen! No, no, no.’
I think on a lot of levels, it’s a healing kind of activity.
“‘Aside from that rookie mistake, it was probably the most moving (screening) I’ve ever done because they were riveted, and they loved it and understood what I was trying to do.’ …
“McShane reveals the healing power of art in the daily lives of inmates who have formed a quilting circle inside the Level 5 prison in Licking, Missouri. They work in a special sewing room where they make quilts for foster children in the surrounding counties.
“‘From design to completion, the men reveal their struggles, triumphs, and sense of pride in creating something beautiful in this windowless, sacred space deep within the prison walls,’ describes Netflix.
“‘They make beautiful things,’ McShane told Deadline. ‘I think on a lot of levels, it’s a healing kind of activity.’ …
“McShane, who made Mothers of Bedford, a documentary about incarcerated women who are mothers of school-age children, found out about the Missouri inmates from a local news story someone sent her.
“‘The idea of quilters in a maximum-security prison that were male, I was just intrigued,’ she told Deadline. ‘So, I went out and just visited for a while without my camera and I was really struck … And then (the prison) provided me a surprising amount of access.’”
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