HMP Humber Film Project in Partnership with MMU

Earlier this week, we attended an event organised by Manchester Metropolitan University as part of The Manchester International Crime and Justice Film Festival.

The idea behind the festival is to ‘screen great films which provoke debate and provide an alternative take on crime, justice and punishment in the 21st century’.

Tuesday’s event, called Time and Space showcased an animated film that had been created by Novus learners at HMP Humber, with support from Code 4000, a charity whose mission is to reduce reoffending by teaching software development skills to prisoners and to find them work in the technology sector upon release. 

The film responded to a brief from the festival team which asked our learners to explore the theme of public and private space in prisons (spaces that might be ‘yours’ at some times in the day but not others; spaces for staff and for people in prison; spaces divided by locked doors and gates).

Take a look at the short film here.

Following the screening, we found out how the film was made in prison, the challenges the learners faced, and the inspiration and ideas that led to the finished films. We were joined by the staff who supported the learners in making the film.

Why are these projects important for Novus learners?

Projects like these make a real difference to our learners, helping them to develop the confidence and skills they need to continue to study or find work on release, here’s the thoughts of one of our learners discussing this project:

"For the past two months I have been involved with a fascinating project to create a short animation film in collaboration with the prison. This animation is intended to be shown outside as well as inside the prison. I have worked closely with the workshop tutors to do this.

I have created the shapes of the characters and their facial expressions. This has been a very interesting process and I have learned lots of new skills, for example on impression programs like Blender and Photoshop.

I am grateful for the chance to put a small part of my imagination into this project. I hope I did a good job. I really enjoyed the experience. Thank you."

Providing skills for learners to use on release

Projects like this one, offer Novus learners the chance to engage in activities that provide them with skills that they need to find employment on release.  HMP Humber understands that art and enrichment activities are vital to get learners work ready and in many cases find work in creative industries.

The Graft Studio that has been created at HMP Humber is a brilliant example of supporting artistic learners into careers in the creative industries.  Full time learners in the studio can study either on a City and Guilds qualification or Foundation course in Art and Design. From this, many learners progress onto art college on release from prison, and we have previously had one learner gain a 1st Class degree in Fine Art at Leeds University and progress to work for Koestler Arts and receive a Butler Trust Award.

Find out more information on other creative projects at HMP Humber or read our creative enrichment strategy.