RIDM in Prison is a two-part cultural outreach program. The first part involves a screening of a documentary followed by a discussion on the film with the inmates. The second part is a critical analysis and writing workshop, supervised and animated in the presence of the filmmaker. In addition, the women inmates are invited to submit their written reviews to have feedback on their work.

Basically, RIDM in Prison aims to deepen participants’ knowledge of filmmaking and expose them to interesting cultural material at a time when they are largely cut off from the world. The activities encourage the inmates to reflect, develop their critical thinking skills and open their minds to different world views.

Since 2013, these activities have taken place throughout the year in three prisons (Bordeaux, Leclerc and Joliette) and a halfway house (Thérèse-Casgrain).

In 2014, the RIDM were awarded the inaugural Prix de l’action culturelle by the Ville de Montréal for this project. The award was introduced as a way to recognize openness, creativity and community action in the cultural sector.