LOVE, TROUBLE AND LIFE AFTERWARDS : THE EXTRAORDINARY DAILY LIVES OF WOMEN IN JAIL | M6 | Zone Interdite

At the Roanne detention center, a 600-place mixed prison near Lyon, life paths and vocations collide and intermingle on a daily basis. In the arrivals section, Vanessa, a young female warden, is confronted every day with the shock of prison life. She gradually learns to detect the violent or suicidal behavior of certain inmates, particularly women, who suddenly become aware of their sentence and its consequences.

Sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment for homicide, Sandrine, 45, has decided to go on living despite her sentence. She takes advantage of the long days alone in her seven-square-meter cell to brush up her skills and get a diploma. But what keeps her going is her partner Antonio, whom she met before she was sentenced. He comes to see her every week in the visiting room. The couple are soon to be married in prison, and will be spending their honeymoon in a Family Life Unit, a small apartment without bars inside the detention center.

On the same floor, 33-year-old Harmonie is also about to get married… to one of her fellow inmates. She has fallen in love with Yasmina, 49, one of the prison’s “figures”. For Harmonie, this union offers a form of protection in this pitiless world, where the toughest prisoners rule. It also enables her to hold out until her release, scheduled for 2023. In a few months’ time, Harmonie will be granted her first leave to find a job and accommodation. A promise of freedom that, paradoxically, frightens her. Outside, she has no bearings.

To help her with her reintegration, she can nevertheless count on Aline. At 33, this former educator has chosen to become an integration counselor in a closed environment. Aline arrived at the Roanne center only a month ago, and is in charge of the entire women’s section, i.e. 70 inmates. These inmates are reputed to be more difficult than the men, because they are more manipulative. A real challenge for this young recruit, who is also discovering the prison world and its codes.

Line is convinced that, for many inmates, incarceration can only be tolerated if family ties are maintained. Her role is to act as a link between families and prison staff. Employed for three years at the Roanne center, Line has become a valuable ear for many inmates’ wives. Such is the case of Nadège, whose partner was sentenced to a long prison term. At 22, she is the mother of a 2-year-old girl and is expecting a baby, conceived in the visiting room. It is also in the visiting room that her future baby will meet its father for the first time.

In spite of the bars and the hell of prison, inmates, inmates’ wives and prison staff try, each at their own level, to preserve human links in order to make the prison world more bearable.