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Producer's Notes Last year, as in the previous decade and a half, the level of female incarceration in the United States rose at a higher rate than the confinement of male offenders. The incarceration rate for female juvenile offenders, in particular, is rapidly increasing. Between 1991 and 2000, girls’ arrests increased by 25.3 percent while arrests of boys actually decreased by 3.2 percent. Females now make up 20% of the juvenile justice system whereas they used to make up only 5%. While female juvenile incarceration is considered a timely and signficant issue, no feature documentary films of any prominence have been produced on the subject. Producing a documentary is especially difficult due to issues of confidentiality and the restrictions placed on filming minors. Fortunately, former Governor Ryan and current Governor Rod Blagojevich saw the value in having a documentary film produced on the subject. They have provided Oscar- nominated and national Emmy award-winning filmmaker Tod Lending with unprecedented access to a female juvenile offender at the maximum-security Illinois Youth Center in Warrenville, Illinois. In January 2003, after interviewing 25 girls, Lending selected Aimee Myers as his main subject for this project. Rather than follow a group of girls with disparate stories, Lending chose to create a compelling, personal portrait of a female juvenile offender whose history and psychology reflect and are emblematic of other young female offenders’ experiences. Aimee was incarcerated at Warrenville from April 2002 to August 2003 for violating her parole after running away from home. She was paroled for an assault and battery charge that she received after getting into a brawl with the staff at her school. Aimee and her three brothers were all enrolled in the Special Education Behavioral Disorder Program at school. All four have been diagnosed as having bipolar disorder. One of her brothers is presently incarcerated for drug possession and distribution. When filming began in January 2003, Aimee was 16; she turned 17 in November. She comes from a small town of 7,000 people located next to the Mississippi. Her father is white and her mother is Latina; Aimee identifies herself as being Latina. Her parents are divorced and her mother has remarried. Her father lives one block from the mother and the grandmother also lives in town. The family is close, despite a history of domestic abuse. Lending will continue to follow the family for another two years as Aimee struggles to integrate with her family and community. The study of female juvenile incarceration is relatively new.
While more research has been done in recent years to address the
concerns, needs, and challenges of juvenile females in the criminal
justice and corrections systems, much more is required. AIMEE’S
CROSSING promises to be a documentary film that will help to fill
this gap in knowledge and understanding of female juvenile incarceration. About Nomadic Pictures Tod Lending is an Academy Award nominated and national Emmy award winning producer/director/writer whose work has aired nationally on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, HBO; has been screened and awarded at national and international festivals; and has been televised internationally in Europe and Asia. He is the recipient of numerous awards including a national Emmy for Outstanding Children's Special, Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism, CINE Gold Eagle, Golden Apple, the New York Festival World Medal, the Innovation in Documentary Award, to name a few. He is the president and founder of Nomadic Pictures, a film and television company based in Chicago. Nomadic Pictures |
