Mothers of Bedford

Mothers of Bedford is a poignant and insightful look at how imprisonment affects mothers and their children, and the bond that they share. It is far too easy in American society to cast blame on convicted prisoners, but a great majority of incarcerated women are mothers of innocent children. Filmmaker Jenifer McShane does a masterful job of fairly telling the story of five such women and their families. I found particular inspiration in the stories of the women who have dedicated their lives to helping incarcerated women and their families by establishing programs to help these women keep, and even strengthen, their bonds with their children. They have proved that it is indeed possible to be an effective parent from behind bars, given the right support systems. The real-life characters in this film are wonderfully endearing. In my opinion, the greatest works of art - cinematic or otherwise - make us think about topics of importance in ways that we never have before. Mothers of Bedford more than meets that criterion, and does so with a healthy dose of grace and humor.

Mothers of Bedford is a thoughtful, honest look at women at prison who are also mothering their children. The film follows five women and the children and families on the outside that await their return. What type of prison rehabilitation are we striving for? Punitive or rehabilitative? Mothers of Bedford is a character driven, non-manipulative film that provides an insight to the world inside prison we do not often see. Looking at the perspective of the children left behind and the women in prison, Mothers of Bedford, is an unusually compelling documentary about an issue rarely reported. I highly recommend you view this film.

This film plumbs the exquisite nature of mothers' love, painfully strained by, and bravely sustained despite, the incarceration of the mothers who are featured. Director Jenifer McShane brings us inside the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility to explore a parenting program that brings together the mothers and their children in as home-like a setting as can be recreated. It is a lifeline for all, allowing the women to truly parent over time and despite living apart. We learn each woman's story, come to feel we know them, and witness pleasures and accomplishments, as well as struggles and disappointments. We also come to know the women who created and sustain the program, and to understand their drive to keep these mothers and children connected. Parental love, and the will to love despite tremendous obstacles, is depicted here in an achingly real way.

I first saw this film when it debuted at Lincoln Center in 2011. I have since seen it probably 5 more times. It never fails to move me, to see these women in the most difficult of circumstances, rise above all the difficulties to be mothers to their children. And the bond that is stronger than walls and barbed wire and clanging gates is honored and dignified in this portrait of five women in their journey through incarceration. The children are beautiful; Joey and Jacob just bring me to tears with their trusting love and faith in their mom. And the grandmothers whose love for their daughters and their grandchildren transcends the circumstances. It's a sensitive depiction of these women showing them as more than just inmates but as mothers filled with concern and love for their families. It is a gift to bring these families into your life.

Mothers of Bedford follows the lives of five women in prison, and their challenges as they struggle to raise their children from behind bars. With deep compassion, Jen McShane allows these women—and their families and loved ones—to tell their stories, with heartbreaking honesty and, in some cases, startling insight. These women are not career criminals so much as victims of circumstance—poverty, drugs, discrimination, or just bad choices—but if there was any self-pity in these interviews, any wringing of hands or self indulgence, it wasn't evident in the final cut. Instead we see them loving and missing their kids, nagging them and talking to their teachers (by phone), and trying to negotiate the same kind of challenges that any mother has, yet compounded enormously by their incarceration. Their stories will stay with you long, long after the film is over.