107 Mothers

Lesya is an Ukrainian woman who is sentenced to 7 years in an Odessa prison facility after committing a crime of passion. Inside the jail, she gives birth to her first child, who is allowed to stay with her until he turns 3 years old. Raising her child behind bars, Lesya is a caring and loving mother, and continuously worries about his future. As she tries to prevent him from being sent to an orphanage, she serves her sentence among 107 women - inmates, mothers, nurses and guards. The warden Iryna is the main witness of their daily routine, and spends her spare time reading the inmates' private letters and quietly reflecting on her own desire for a child.

Shot in a entirely female-dominated environment, 107 Mothers blends fiction and documentary with a strong visual aesthetic: light blue walls and uniforms, and almost identical babies in a row are some of the repeating patterns throughout the film.