The Fundy Film Society

Music from the Big House

Music from the Big House

From acclaimed director Bruce McDonald (The Tracey Fragments, Pontypool), teaming with Emmy and Oscar nominated documentary producer Erin Faith Young and her producing partner Jennifer St. John, comes a rare and exclusive musical journey. Rita Chiarelli, an award-winning recording artist, takes a pilgrimage to the birthplace of the blues, Louisiana State Maximum Security Penitentiary a.k.a. Angola Prison. She never imagined that her love of the blues would lead her to a historic jailhouse performance with inmates serving life sentences for murder, rape and armed robbery.

This musical journey is a glance into what used to be the bloodiest prison in America, but now gives lifers something to live for through the power of music. In contrast to sensational stories of convicts, we witness remarkable voices of hope as their love of music radiates humanity and redemption on their quest for forgiveness.
On Quiet Earth, Marina Antunes calls Music from the Big House “very much a documentary about jailhouse blues, one that gets the soul singing and the foot tapping. It’s a beautiful film and one that all music lovers, regardless of preferred style, can appreciate because the music speaks to something deeper in our souls.”