Let's Play Prisoners

Let's Play Prisoners 1988 22 mins

Let's Play Prisoners (1988) explores power between women through a story about two girls whose childhood rituals and dares take on a distinctly sadomasochistic tone. The story, read by an adult woman (the story's author, Jo Anstey) sitting on a couch, tells of childhood games of imprisonment, physical restraint, humiliation, and pain from the victim's point of view, probing how the girl's masochism and desire for approval compel her to comply with her friend's increasingly cruel requests."

Liz Kotz, "Anything but Idyllic: Lesbian Filmmaking in the 1980s and 1990s," Sisters, Sexperts, Queers: Beyond the Lesbian Nation, ed. Arlene Stein, Plume, 1993, p. 77

"Lets Play Prisoners" is an experimental video. In it a woman recalls a childhood relationship in which she was bullied. The tape deals with issues of gender, sexuality and power in the most intimate relationships. "Lets Play Prisoners" has exhibited worldwide and is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, NY. The tape won Best Experimental Video at the 13th Annual Atlanta Film & Video Festival ( 1989) and a Grand Prize at the Black Maria Thomas Edison Film & Video Festival (1989).

Let's Play Prisoners was directed by Julie Zando. The tape was based on a short story by JosephineAnstey. Anstey is one of the main performers in the piece and was actively involved with the creative content throughout the production process.