Films

Audience Award Winner, Adelaide Film Festival

Songs Inside is a life-affirming documentary that follows fifteen women on remand at Adelaide Women’s Prison as they embark on a bold musical journey. Led by Barkindji singer-songwriter Nancy Bates, the women learn to play instruments, write songs, and confront deep personal trauma in a space rarely seen by the outside world.

Through raw honesty and creative expression, the program becomes a sanctuary where pain transforms into purpose. The film culminates in a historic performance with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, staged inside the prison for an audience of inmates and guests. With intimate access and emotional depth, Songs Inside reveals how music can restore dignity, build resilience, and offer hope for a future beyond incarceration.