Tongue Cut Sparrows (Inside Outside)

Tongue Cut Sparrow is a fable of language and love. Quotes from acclaimed writers and poets pass across the screen, alternating with images of people standing outside of the El Paso, TX jailhouse signing to prisoners inside, who are also signing back. The artist, a longtime resident of the Southwest, James Drake, saw people outside of a prison, signing to people inside. This experience become the inspiration for the film, recording the makeshift sign language these people used to connect to their loved ones, family members, and business associates behind bars. This sign language also enables communication without requiring entry into the prison.

Through a friend, James was introduced to some of these signers. He said the participants were interested in collaborating with him because he was an artist and not a documentarian - that they could work together to make something of beauty. He met with them and brought poems and poetry books. He selected some works and the participants selected others. This was filmed in the mid-1990s - he went it the jail 10 times or so for 2-3 hours at each time. He used only 3 women in the final footage. Limiting the communication between women and the prisoners, the artist hints at a Romeo and Juliet scenario. This piece makes us consider the universality of love across cultures, places, and languages - even as those things change, the love remains the same for eternity.