Day two of our trip could not have been more amazing. We had 9 interviews today, which were all emotional and eye-opening. Our first interview was with a lawyer at the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Then quickly drove over to the the Iowa Department of Corrections, where we learned about support groups in prison, the parole board, and overall crime statistics in Iowa. Afterwards, we met Felicia, a former inmate at ICIW, who was in the feminism course featured in the documentary. We were able to spend several hours with her–seeing her house, picking up her son, and meeting her mother. We then finished the night with 4 members of the Homicide Survivors Support Group at the Polk County Crisis and Advocacy Services Center. No matter what background or story these people had to tell, they all came to the same conclusion that the “grey area” exists.

Our Iowa trip to finish filming for the documentary started today. After landing in Omaha, we drove to Ames, Iowa where we met with Amy, who was an inmate at ICIW and was recently released into a work release facility. It was great seeing Amy again and made us even more excited for the rest of our interviews.

We are flying to Iowa in April 2011 to film some additional footage at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women (ICIW) and conduct some new and exciting interviews in Des Moines! We are thrilled for the opportunity to meet with the women at ICIW, after not having seen them in almost 2 years. Additionally, we will be meeting with one of the women who was recently discharged from Prison and will spend time with her outside the prison walls for the first time, and even meet her kids!

Iowa here we come…