Waubonsee Community College

Garden of wonders, directed by Anush Hamzehian

ita

videorecording

Garden of wonders

electronic resource

911956034

directed by Anush Hamzehian

57

Hidden behind the walls of the women’s prison on Giudecca, one of the islands south of Venice, there is an unexpected feature: a large vegetable garden. There are no surveillance cameras here, no wardens…just female prisoners at work. They plant, prune and water to the sounds coming from the lagoon. For the chosen few admitted to this section, this small patch of land represents a concrete link to the outside world. They feel free to talk, telling their story…their hopes 'for afterwards'. 'Garden of wonders' is not a film in praise of the redemptive virtues of incarceration, far from it. It is a human encounter with these women who 'hang in there' thanks to a turnip or a cherry. Their determination to maintain contact with 'real life' through laboring the land is touching, almost poetic

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