Singing on the Inside Documentary

The making of a collaborative album with inmates at New Folsom Prison

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The “Singing on the Inside” documentary is currently seeking funding and support from like-minded organizations with an eye toward re-thinking justice in America.

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The Prison Music Project

Zoe Boekbinder and Ani DiFranco, who is producing the album.

The Prison Music Project is the result of five years of volunteering for an arts program inside New Folsom Prison. The project is an album of songs written by people who are or were incarcerated there. The objective is to raise awareness about incarceration and its impact on low income communities and communities of color. While Zoe Boekbinder, has strong opinions about the Prison Industrial Complex, the songs speak for themselves through the words of those effected. Some of the words are political but most are personal.

When possible, the writers are performing their own work on the album. In some cases a family member is performing for them. In many cases, well-known members of the music community, who are unconnected to the writers, are performing the songs - due to limitations on recording inside the maximum security prison.

The project seeks not only to humanize this community to those unaffected by incarceration, but also to raise money for re-entry programs supporting people upon their release from prison. All profits from the album and documentary will support people who are victimized by incarceration.

The Prison Music Project is collaborating with Voice of the Ex-Offender (V.O.T.E.), a non-profit advocacy organization based in New Orleans, LA (Boekbinder's home as of the last two years). V.O.T.E. was started and is run by Norris Henderson, who served 28 years in Angola Prison before being exonerated. He is dedicated now to reforming Louisiana prisons by mobilizing and giving voice to currently and previously incarcerated people.

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Sizzle Reel

The “Singing on the Inside” Documentary is currently in production. Here is a sample reel of footage captured thus far.