As the 2010 First Person Arts Festival quickly approaches, we are busily preparing some pretty spectacular events featuring music, dance, poetry, theatre, and memoir. And our Festival wouldn’t be complete without some standout documentary films.

Join us for the Philadelphia premiers of three different documentaries. Each film provides insight into the lives of amazing people, each with their own histories, journeys, and stories to tell. This week, we’ll take a brief look at each of the documentaries, starting with the moving and provocative Girls on the Wall.

Girls On the Wall

Directed by Heather Ross, Girls on the Wall takes you into Warrenville, a juvenile detention center for young girls in Illinois. Enter Whitney, Rosa, and Christina. They are just three of the many Warrenville girls who took part in an art project aimed to help them reclaim their lives: writing and performing a musical. As the girls write their stories, they must face their pasts and come to terms with their crimes. The LA Times Blog described Girls on the Wall as a masterpiece. It has won awards at both the Chicago International Film Festival and the Bermuda International Film festival. Official Website. 

Girls on the Wall is the first part of a three-part event looking at the role of the arts in criminal rehabilitation, Prison 101. The event includes the world premier of Prison 101, a monologue-driven theater piece written by the men of Graterford Prison, just 45 minutes outside of Philly. Mural Arts founder Jane Golden will moderate the third and final part of the showcase, a discussion with the directors of Girls on the Wall and Prison 101. 

The event is sponsored by Villanova University and Ursinus College and will take place on Saturday, November 13 at 2:00 PM on the Main Stage of the Painted Bride Art Center. It will run for approximately 2 1/2 hours and is $15 for the general public and $12 for First Person members. Buy your tickets here. 

Tomorrow we’ll get a sneak peak at Strange Powers: Stephin Merrit and The Magnetic Fields.

- Laura Reeve