Arts in Pelican Bay State Prison from Malcolm DeSoto on Vimeo.

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The short documentary above, directed by local filmmaker Malcolm DeSoto, explores the first-ever theater arts program offered at Pelican Bay State Prison, a program developed by Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theater, located in Blue Lake, in partnership with the non-profit William James Association.

Funded by the California Arts Council, the program helps to rehabilitate inmates at the maximum-security prison by teaching them how to connect with others and express themselves in healthful ways.

“For someone who likes to think of himself as fearless, there’s a lot of things I fear, and a lot of that is internal,” an inmate named Kunlyna says in the video. “I’m learning how to interact with people, learning how to be there for people, how to be present, how to care about things other than yourself. And we need that. Cuz we don’t know how to deal emotionally.”

Janessa Johnsrude, director of special projects and faculty at Dell’Arte and one of the co-founders of the prison project, told the Outpost she hopes this video will help reduce the stigma of prisoners. 

“We’re here for certain reasons, for things that we’ve done,” another inmate, Yuti, says in the video. “But I wouldn’t want people to always assume that’s us. We have a lot to offer if they give us a chance.”

You can read more about Dell’Arte’s prison program on their website and in this Del Norte Triplicate story from reporter Jessica Cejnar.