Songs in the Key of Free
Songs in the Key of Free is an innovative music program at State Correctional Institute-Graterford, a maximum security prison northwest of Philadelphia. The program restored music instruction for inmates after twenty years without any access to a music program of any kind. It brings together outside musicians and talented men in the prison to create original songs and performances. Our short film and still photographs focus on the creative process that is giving birth to outstanding original music in multiple styles -- and rejuvenating lives in the process. But the project also dwells on the warmth and humanity of the participants, many of whom have served lengthy sentences, taken responsibility for their actions, and now deserve a new life on the outside. Please note that prison regulations in Pennsylvania forbid showing the faces of those incarcerated, requiring us to adopt novel visual strategies.
