Transcriber: Ellen Maloney Reviewer: Denise RQ
A toilet.
A radio.
And perhaps, a television.
A window.
A ceiling.
A door...
but with no handle.
This is the home of my students.
I'd signed up to become a teacher
at a Young Offender's Institute, Cookham Wood.
I was to start a film club, with another filmmaker, Tim Cronin.
On my first day, I was a little bit nervous,
until someone shouted, "Oy, Moony! Is that you, yeah?"
See, Moony is the name of the character I played in the film "Kidulthood."
It ranks alongside "Sponge" as the silliest character name ever.
"Moony! Is that you?
What? Man, heard yous lot were doing a little film club thing.
What, why can't man come? What do yous lot do, like? Watch films?"
I explained to him that our aim was to teach the young men
every aspect of film making from concept stage to post-production.
Tim and I had limited resources:
a basic camera,
an iMac with editing software that had never been updated
- Guess why? Because it had never been connected to the Internet! -
(Laughter)
We started off by teaching the young men improvisation and stop-start animation.
We later progressed to making videos
that were used internally for training and induction purposes.
One of my favorite pieces of work we did was a video that we made
that incorporated African gospel songs.
I'm not going to break into any, but I loved this video because, you know,
I found out that the boys knew exactly the same songs that I knew,
or some of them knew exactly the same songs I knew,
because we grew up in church singing these songs,
not with them, but, you know.
But anyway;
that was my favorite piece of work we did.
I was really touched when one of the young men came up to me and said,
"Oy, oy, Moony! You know what, yeah?
You taught man how to turn one room into 1,000 places still."
I was touched by this.
However, Tim and I really wanted to get across to the young men
that film-making was to be for an audience.
You create films with an audience in mind,
and prisons being the restrictive places that they are,
it was very difficult to get opportunities to showcase our work.
So you can imagine how excited we were
when we were commissioned by the Prisoners' Education Trust
to create a video for their website,
but not just any video;
a video about the prison youth council.
"What's the youth council?" I hear you scream.
(Laughter)
The youth council is everything to the young men.
It's their very own democratic system,
and through the council, they've achieved so much.
In my first few weeks in the prison,
I noticed that all the young men that were youth council reps
wore t-shirts with "Youth Council Rep" written large across them,
and walked around the prison proudly.
And they had every reason to be proud, because in most cases,
they had been chosen through an election-based system.
Before the youth council,
the two strongest guys in the prison could sit on the phone for 30 minutes each
and not let anyone else use the phone.
At the youth council, the young men were able to table a system
where each person could use the phone for 10 minutes before being blocked out
for another half an hour.
What's more, some of the young men grew frustrated
with the worksheet-based approach taken to education in prison.
They suggested the introduction of level three courses, A-levels,
Duke of Edinburgh.
I was really excited about the youth council
because I didn't know such a system existed.
!Woah, woah! Femi, Femi, Femi! Wait, wait, wait!
How are we going to make a film about the youth council
but in just one room?"
"I thought we taught you how to turn one room into 1,000 places!"
It was clearly going to be tough.
We'd never created anything that was shown outside the prison before.
We had no budget, access to only one room,
and after much negotiation, a stairwell, a stairwell.
We were aware that the video was going to act as an advert
to other prison managers
about the potential of this fledgling democratic system.
So it had to be at least decent.
(Laughter)
We got creative.
The young men wrote scripts, one of them wrote poetry,
and they recruited me to do the voice-over for the video.
I'd like to show you a short clip which highlights the difficulties
that we encountered working in this restricted environment,
and how we managed to overcome them.
(Video starts)
I became involved in the youth council
because I thought it was an opportunity to improve my prison experience.
The youth council inspired me
to seek higher level courses which weren't available before.
Education allows me to improve my teamwork on communication.
It inspires me to take a new road and gives me self-belief.
Education allows me to be expressive and find my talent.
By realizing a talent,
new opportunities are open to me that I didn't know about before.
The prison management heard my voice,
and now, I'm taking level three courses.
The prison has now introduced other courses
such as distance learning courses, A-levels, and Duke of Edinburgh.
This shows how, as a forum,
the youth council has improved the life at Cookham.
Using the opportunities at Cookham Wood has allowed me to find my voice.
(Music)
Involve.
Inspire.
Improve.
(Video ends)
(Applause)
Femi Oyeniran: The youth council is an example
of people participating in democracy in an unlikely place.
Through the youth council,
the young people in the prison are engaging in democracy
in a more meaningful way than they probably would
if they were on the outside.
The youth council also gave them an opportunity
to engage with those in authority.
What's more, through managed and clear communication,
they are able to chip away at the mistrust that exists between them and prison staff.
The young people loved and cared about the youth council so much
because it's had a direct effect on their community.
Through the youth council, they were able to have a voice,
secure change for their current living conditions,
and secure their future prospects.
Young people in the 18-25 category are disengaged,
and there's a lot of publicity about this.
I believe that young people do care about political issues,
but they don't care about politics.
In addition to this, I believe
that a lot more needs to be done in schools and colleges
to teach young people how they can participate
within the political system as it is.
Also, I think
young people's disengagement must be re-framed
as disapproval of the present political landscape.
Political parties must step up to the plate
and tackle the challenge of engaging with young people
on issues that they care about,
as opposed to trying to dictate the agenda.
Back to my young people at Cookham.
Through participation in the youth council,
they are learning, they are learning to have a voice,
they are learning about the tangible effect of democracy;
and what's more, they are learning to be citizens.
Hopefully, this sense of citizenship will lead them to desist from crime,
and resettle within their communities.
I'd like to finish with a video
which features a poem written by one of the young men,
about the importance of education in prison,
because through the practical education of the youth council,
the young men are learning
more about democracy on the inside than they would on the outside
in schools and colleges,
which is a shame.
Here's the video, thank you for having me, by the way.
(Applause) (Music)
(Video starts) Get education in prison -
it might feel long, but it ain't a mission.
Can't tell you what to do, it's your decision.
When you get out, you'll be in a greater position.
Education is the key, it opens doors for you and for me.
It also makes you feel free.
Don't be stupid, everyone can succeed.
Be a smart boy or girl, make a good choice,
make your education and voice make noise.
Ask to do any course; your voice will be heard, of course.
Being in prison is like going back to school.
Live smart and not as a fool.
Your voice is always heard, just be polite with your words.
Staff is here to help you, they even look after your health.
Make your voice and actions speak volumes.