The short film, ‘The Stranger’, written and directed by Ed McGown that I recently DP’d in collaboration with the Prison Service has won the IVCA Bronze Award for Best Drama at the 2011 IVCA Awards.

Since many ex-offenders have never had a bank account, have no credit or employment history and still less any friends or family who they can fall back on, trying to build a normal life after a period inside can be almost impossible. This film uses a darkly comic style to demonstrate some of the key pitfalls faced by ex-offenders in their first few weeks after release. I wrote the script following a research period spent visting inmates at Wandsworth Prison, where I learnt first hand of some of the major problems facing prisoners on their release.