Film is art, and as a visual medium, it speaks volumes with the images projected on the screen, often without a single spoken word. Marco Perego’s Dovecote speaks to the lives of incarcerated women in this haunting short film.
Dovecote begins with a serene journey through the picturesque canals of Venice. As the audience, we ride through the city’s canals, the tight corridors between buildings, the claustrophobic tunnels, and the austere buildings lining the waterway.
Our destination is an old institution—a women’s prison. As if on a magic carpet, the camera glides through a hole in the brick wall to see a young woman (Zoe Saldana) in the prison infirmary. Quickly, we see that she is about to be released and, with freedom, comes to say goodbye to the sisterhood she’s been a part of since the start.

“…a fly on the wall in a women’s prison…”
Filmed in what seems to be a single continuous shot, we follow the soon-to-be freed inmate moving from room to room, wishing her fellow incarcerated good wishes. Occasionally, our attention goes to other inmates, but we eventually find ourselves in a crowded hallway with attention on our protagonist.
Dovecote is a sonnet to freedom…a freedom that was once taken away. We are literally a fly on the wall in a women’s prison following the daily routine of its inmates. The film is a sonnet. It’s poetic. It’s lyrical, and the music is both haunting and inspiring.
Zoe Saldana anchors the film as the one person we recognize and blends seamlessly with the rest of the ensemble. Yet, Javier Julia’s beautiful and clever cinematography only enhances her performance and the overall story.
All wrapped together, Dovecote finds beauty in a place where none is found. It brings hope and futility to the endless cycle of women churned through the system.
Dovecote screened at the 2024 Hollyshorts Film Festival.