Netflix film highlights quilting program at state prison at Licking

A documentary set in the heart of one of Missouri’s prisons will be available for streaming May 16.

“The Quilters,” a 33-minute film about a group of men in the South Central Correctional Center in Licking will be on Netflix.

According to a synopsis, the film “follows the daily lives of several men, spending most of its screen time inside the sewing room at South Central Correctional Center, a maximum security prison.”

The group has crafted several quilts for charities in Houston. The most recent one was a quilt that was raffled at the recent Emmett Kelly Clown Festival.

“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.”

A trailer for the film shows brief moments with the men as they discuss the work of quilting and their time inside prison.

“They may or may not have a date,” a voice in the trailer says. “They may not be going home.”

The inmates speak about getting in, and trying to stay out of trouble.

“We’re just trying to get better,” one man says. “We all ain’t perfect, but we’re trying. (Quilting) is what puts me on the outside. When I do this, I don’t even be in here.”

The prison for men is on West Highway 32.