On the 7th August 2023 we'd raised £1,396 with 29 supporters in 35 days. But as every pound matters, we're continuing to collect donations from supporters.
Every year in the UK, we send roughly 85,000 people to prison. This figure is projected to rise to above 100,000 people in the next 4 years, according to Home Office research. This project focuses on two ways of attempting to reduce crime; attempting to understand the root causes of offending behaviour and giving men with experience of the criminal justice system an opportunity to gain experience in acting, devising and filmmaking.
Set in one room SAVING FACE is a claustrophobic, emotionally intense huis-clos. It demonstrates the enormously powerful potential of forgiveness, but also the challenges that come with offering and accepting it.
In February we held a workshop with men from Kestrel Theatre - a charity that runs projects creating original pieces of theatre, film and performance with men who have experience of the criminal justice system. Over the course of two days, the men were able to voice their thoughts and opinions about restorative justice, forgiveness and rehabilitation, through devised scenes, improvisaton and discussion. Their voices have been captured and been turned into the script for the film, written by Simon Longman (Royal Court, C4).
Several roles will be played by Kestrel alumni, who were trained as actors while serving time and others will shadow different crew members to gain experience in filmmaking across the sector. The role of the mother will be played by a known actor.
We have secured Jacob Dunne as story consultant. Jacob has been through the process of restorative justice himself and is a great advocate of it. He recently published Right from Wrong and hosted the BBC Sounds podcast The Punch, which speaks about his experience.
The final film will be released online and do the festival circuit, as well as being shown in multiple prisons around the UK as part of Kestrel's continuing work within the criminal justice system.