Last night we fought the thunder and lightening and went into the Eddie Warrior lady prison ‘Johnny Cash style’ and showed the film to 700 screaming ladies.  The women absolutely loved the event! It was like a festival environment with crazy cheering throughout the screening.

After the screening we had a Q&A with Jamie, Rhonda and Foxie -who remains in prison but is due out any day. We also announced our ‘Sweetheart’ inmate scholarship fund which was most appreciated.

Thank you to all the ladies at the Eddie Warrior Prison and all the staff for helping us make history!

The film will be screened inside the prison system as part of a large-scale outreach campaign and forum exploring rehabilitative and educational programs, starting with the Eddie Warrior Correctional Center in Taft, Oklahoma on June 9th before all 700 inmates.  ”Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo” is produced by James Payne and Amy Dotson and is [...]

NEW YORK, May 28,2009 — HBO Documentary Films has acquired the documentary “Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo.” Directed by Bradley Beesley (“Okie Noodling”, “The Fearless Freaks”, “SummerCamp!”), the film goes behind prison walls to follow convict cowgirls on their journey to the 2007 Oklahoma State Penitentiary Rodeo, a purely American event that’s part Wild West [...]

Fortunately, Bradley Beesley’s humanistic “Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo” dignifies the subjects of his documentary—female prisoners.
http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/blog/2009/03/micro-review-sweethearts-of-prison.php

SXSW 2009: Not Bradley Beesley’s First Rodeo
It’s kind of impossible that it still goes on and unbelievable that it’s allowed, but I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. It just seems like such a throwback, it surprises me that it hasn’t completely shut down.
By Stephen Sait
http://www.ifc.com/news/2009/03/sxsw-2009-not-bradley-beesleys.php