Turning to Stone

Turning to Stone
GenreDrama
Written byJudith Thompson
Directed byEric Till
StarringNicky Guadagni
Anne Anglin
Jackie Richardson
Shirley Douglas
Bernard Behrens
Theme music composerJohn Welsman
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerJohn Kastner
CinematographyVic Sarin
EditorThomas Berner
Running time90 minutes
Production companyCanadian Broadcasting Corporation
Original release
NetworkCBC Television
ReleaseFebruary 25, 1986 (1986-02-25)
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Turning to Stone is a Canadian docudrama television film, which was broadcast by CBC Television in 1986.[1] Directed by Eric Till and written by Judith Thompson, the film stars Nicky Guadagni as Allison Campbell, a woman who is sent to Ontario's Prison for Women after being set up by her boyfriend to smuggle drugs from Mexico to Canada without her knowledge.[2]

The film was based on interviews with real women in prison, conducted by documentarian John Kastner during the creation of his documentary films The Parole Dance and The Lifer and the Lady.[3] Many of the incidents depicted in the film were real occurrences which the prisoners had not felt comfortable or safe discussing openly on camera, but which Kastner felt were valuable illustrations of the importance of prison reform, so he chose to produce his first-ever scripted fiction film to dramatize them as a companion piece to his prison documentaries.[3]

The cast also includes Anne Anglin, Jackie Richardson, Kim Renders, Maria Vacratsis and Shirley Douglas as fellow inmates in the prison, Bernard Behrens as Allison's father,[4] and Paul Gross, Lubomir Mykytiuk and Barbara Budd in small supporting roles.

The film was broadcast by the CBC on February 25, 1986.[4]

  1. ^ Gerald Pratley, A Century of Canadian Cinema. Lynx Images, 2003. ISBN 1-894073-21-5. p. 226.
  2. ^ Carole Gault, "Confronting the 'law' of the prison jungle". The Globe and Mail, February 22, 1986.
  3. ^ a b Sid Adilman, "Movie dramatizes horrors of prison". Toronto Star, February 21, 1986.
  4. ^ a b Noel Taylor, "Show about women's prison shocking, moving". Ottawa Citizen, February 24, 1986.