九月

　　While visiting a friend at a prison near Madrid, filmmaker Carlos Bosch became aware of a remarkable competition that was taking place behind bars. The Festival of Song is an annual singing competition in which inmates vie for bragging rights as the best singer in the jailhouse, but what might seem like a karaoke competition to some is revealed to be a testament to hope and the power of love in a place where both are in short supply. Septiembres (aka Septembers) is a documentary which offers an inside look at the Festival of Song contest as well as profiling a number of the entrants, including Arturo, a gypsy who sings for the wife and child he's left behind, Rudolf, a Lithuanian expatriate who dedicates his performance to a Ukrainian girl he once loved, and Adelberto, who pays homage to his grandmother. The winners of the Madrid competition then go on to a nationwide event in which their competition includes at least one European rock star who has run afoul of the law. Septiembres was screened in competition at the 2007 Miami International Film Festival.
　　This documentary is a rather beautifully crafted look at life in Madrid's prison system. The title refers to an annual singing contest held amongst Madrid prisons, called the ‘Festival of Song'. Each September chosen inmates are sent to Soto del Real jail for the grand final. Following different entrants of the competition over a year period, we are given an insight into their lives in jail, and the lives of those who must wait on the outside. The inmates who take part in the film have differing backgrounds, serving varying times . Including ‘Beto' from Argentina, Estefania from Barcelona, Rudolf from Lithuania, Norma from Mexico. Some of the their tales are love stories, other tragedies. Each narrative as fascinating as the next.

　　As the documentary progresses you get to know the prisoners better without the intrusion of the camera. Director Carlos Bosch has succeed in getting close to his subjects whilst exercising gentle restraint. The filming of the inmates, and their family and friends is handled with sensitivity, chosing subtly over heavy-handed techniques. There are few moments when the person behind the camera speaks, or when they are directly addressed by one of the inmates. Good directing or good editing, this keeps you connected with their individual stories. Their personal accounts are engaging – so much so that the singing contest is sidelined, as I believe the director was as enthralled by these people as I was.
　　Not only are the stories gripping, but the whole prison environment is intriguing. My knowledge of prisons is thankfully pretty limited, and is almost exclusively informed from films and TV. Prisons are places where screws are the guards and inmates (sometimes) get shanked. Dark and disturbing hellholes filled with murderers and rapists, jail is usually portrayed as a dog eat dog world run as much by the top inmates as the guards. In comparison to its celluloid cousins the real prisons used in Septembers can sometimes seem misleadingly like strict boarding schools. This is perhaps because the documentary is void of any prison personnel. This film is exclusively focused on the inmates lives. The assumption has to be that the prisons featured are all minimum security, given the nature of the access the camera crew are given and the relative ease the inmates move around the buildings. However it would have been good for us unfamiliar with Madrid's prison system to have some of that normally redundant exposition to ground us.
　　Carlos Bosch has approached this documentary with a purpose. Outside of the human interest aspect there is a very serious question that the film is posing about the nature of imprisonment. Beyond the physical penance, what are the mental and emotional costs to both the inmates and their families. There is something so incredibly sad about watching some of these men and women choose to lie about their whereabouts to their families. For me this was an unexpected toll to pay for their crimes. The question of crime and punishment in this film is not without ambiguity. We are faced with two women whose lives have been ruined by drugs. One imprisoned for buying her addicted son drugs, and another facing 10 long years for importing drugs into Spain. Both can be seen as victims and criminals in the same system.
　　This documentary is a divine mixture of the bitter and the sweet. Its success is reflected in its selection in many international film and human rights festivals, since its release. Director Carlos Bosch, has given people usually marginalised by society an opportunity to be heard, and an international audience a chance to find out more about people usually hidden from their view.