Caught in a Trap

This collection of shorts, a mixture of documentary and fiction, look at the cycles of crime and rehabilitation. An additional focus is placed on the difficulties traversing societies pitfalls, especially when surrounded by people and an environment that enable it.

Using a kitchen-sink realist approach, Shankland encapsulates the vulnerable position that women like Jackie find themselves within. Preyed on by men looking to get something from her – the road that Jackie barrels along heading towards its fatalist conclusion.

What appears to be an open and shut case becomes mired. The documentary delves further into the puzzle and Sodiq’s story creates a conflicting portrait. Where dubious court evidence clashes against first-hand accounts and even the courts due process.

Moody and stylish, with dashes of the experimental, the feeling of being stuck at the bottom permeates Out of Sight. Stuck with Martin as his own cabin fever and paranoia takes hold. Presenting a world that you will never leave unless you give yourself a clean break.

No Easy Time is a bleak look at the system of institutionalisation. Despite the work undertaken by the T.C, the documentary is damning portrait of a system that regurgitates the ‘reformed’ back into everyday society; with little care for how they fare on the outside.

Soon everything has changed. He’s lost his long-term girlfriend and an injury he sustained while sparring has caused a delay in his next fight. Now in a moment of reflection, Stevie will make amends with the people around him before he has a chance to get back in the ring.

Bruised to Be Used assembles the pieces that lead to Phillip’s original foray into criminality; his absent father, the rivalries with his siblings, his lack of guidance. The hole his father has left in his life looms large, yet Phillip is determined to follow his own path.