Edinburgh Napier University

  This chapter considers public arts and humanities scholarship and practice in the context of penal institutions, with a focus on women’s prisons and film-making. It argues for a critical-reflective practice, highlighting the opportunities and challenges involved in university-prison engagement. The chapter offers a scholarly context for approaching the representation of incarcerated women and analyzes select examples of prison documentaries before moving on to a case study of On the Outside (2019), a film developed in conversation with women serving time at HMYOI Polmont. The case study highlights the benefits of co-creation while exposing hierarchies and other challenges that pose barriers to co-authorship in such settings. The chapter suggests new directions for the ethics and aesthetics of carceral film-making practices and prison-based public humanities.