Shifting is a story of the separation of a girl who dreams of becoming a photographer and her mother who lives in prison for marijuana possession in Ecuador. In 2016, my cousin, who is like my brother, was arrested for the same crime. For a year, my family and I had been prisoners too. Ecuador is facing the worst prison crisis where 90% of women prisoners are mothers. The "war on drugs" severely punishes children. This is a collaborative multimedia short film that includes Valentina´s visual diary, her mother's songs from prison and an animated piece based on their last memory together.
Shifting is the story of the separation of a girl who dreams of becoming a photographer and her mother who is incarcerated for marijuana possession in Ecuador. This work tells an intimate story of prison life from the perspective of a pre-adolescent girl, illuminating how she deals with distance and confinement as she and her mother await their reunion. This is a multimedia short film made in collaboration between the two of us. It includes images of her daily life, her mother's songs from prison and an animated piece based on their last memory together.
In 2016, my cousin, who is like my brother, was arrested for the same crime. Since that date, my family and I have been prisoners too. During the year, my aunt-who is a single mom, managed the economic maintenance, legal processes, prison visitation, among other situations where violence, fear, and police abuse marked our lives. Like us, other families spent time and money during their efforts to survive jail. I have worked on a hip hop education programme in prisons. Those experiences allowed me to create this project and maintain intimate relationships with prisoners and families.
The "war on drugs" is harming women and their children around the world. Incarceration disrupts interpersonal relationships at all levels, including parent-child bonding due to extreme isolation policies. It severely punishes children who suffer additional stigma related to their parents' crime. Ecuador is facing the worst prison crisis in history, where 90% of women prisoners are mothers. Currently, 3 out of every 10 prisoners are related to micro-dealing or drug possession. The majority come from marginalized backgrounds; many are ethnic minorities, women and single moms arrested with insignificant amounts of drugs.
I have been working with Valentina´s family for almost five years. Iblunth, her mom, is living her last year's sentence with her baby in a Mom's prison. I´ll explore maternity inside jail work on a photography program with prisoners to create personal diaries about their stories to share with their families. While Valentina and I continue portraying her daily life until her mom and brother get their liberation.
This provoking work allows creating connections between incarcerated women and their families. As well let the audiences see beyond the prison stereotype sounding around the dreams, fears, and still live representation of new generations who are facing the incarceration system in Latinamerica.
The final goal is to create an exhibition and a book that will include more in-depth research with information, statistics, and personal diaries about prisoners and families.I partnered with the Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights and Liberarte Program both will use the material in their education and legal programs. A portion of the book sales will be donated to them and Valentina to help support her studies. This collaborative work empowers moms, daughters, sisters, grandmothers to go out of "social death" that inherit stereotypes have given them. Reduce discrimination breaking up the circle of prison to open new opportunities to these families.
