Women are the fastest growing prison population in America.

900 WOMEN documents this growth in the female convict population, woman by woman. Filmed over 9 months at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women in St. Gabriel Louisiana, 900 WOMEN gives a face and voice to the grandmothers, the mothers, the lifers, and the death row inmate that live there; as well as to the institution, and the women who work there. Located in the swamplands of southern Louisiana, LCIW was built in 1977 to house the growing population of female convicts at Angola. Today, under the eye of the same warden, the prison frequently exceeds its 900-person capacity. A minimum, medium, maximum and death row facility, the women here have committed crimes ranging from forgery to multiple counts of murder. 75% of the women are mothers and one fourth of them are serving sentences longer than 15 years. The prison has a somewhat surreal and peaceful quality; there are no search light capped towers or hallways of barbed wire. From the outside, it looks as if these women are simply strolling the outdoor walkways of a community college. The deceptively peaceful atmosphere is home to innumerable stories of imprisonment, frustration, hatred and hope. Six women ­ two grandmothers, a young high school student, a pregnant women, a recovering heroine addict, a prison guard and a woman on death row ­ were generous and brave enough to share their stories and experiences of life on the streets,abuse, incarceration , freedom, childbirth and motherhood.