Jardin des Merveilles
Anush Hamzehian
2011 - 52 min - HDCam - Couleur - France

A unique and magic vegetable garden behind prison walls. Incarcerated women working in a garden by the lagoon in Venice?This is a story of women, herbs and vegetables?
The women's prison on Giudecca, one of the islands south of Venice, has an unexpected feature: a large fruit and vegetable garden. There are no surveillance cameras here, no wardens? just six female prisoners at work; planting, pruning, watering to the sounds coming from the lagoon and the rhythm of their own singing. To the chosen few admitted to this section, this small patch of land represents a concrete link to the outside world. With honesty, they reflect on their story and tell us of their hopes ?for afterwards?.
"Garden of Wonders" is not a film in praise of the redemptive virtues of incarceration, far from it. It is a human encounter, a beautiful portrait of a group of women who ?hang in there? thanks to a turnip or a cherry.