The Quilters (2024)

THE QUILTERS follows the daily lives of several men, spending most of its screen time inside the sewing room at South Central Correctional Center, a Level 5 maximum security prison in a small town two hours south of St. Louis. As we follow several quilts from design to completion, audiences will come to know these men, witnessing their struggles, triumphs, and sense of pride as they create something beautiful in this windowless, sacred space, deep within the prison walls. Our camera follows the quilters up close as they work individually on their creations and also captures the power of this group as a collective, a well-oiled, collaborative machine that hums along like the sewing machines in front of which each man sits. The craft of quilting has been carefully and beautifully shot, with tight focus on the men's hands, the sewing machines, the textures and colors of the fabrics, and the creative design of each quilt which is personalized for a foster child and gifted to them for their birthday.