Source: Some information on this page may have been sourced as part of the 2023 Wikimedia Australia Partnership Projects grant, with the purpose of improving and expanding the use of Wikidata on our website. Wikidata is a free and open knowledge base that can be read and edited by both humans and machines. Read more about this project here.
Swedish director Mai Zetterling filmed this tense and realistic drama set in Borstal Women’s Goal using a cast of mostly unknown young actors. The film powerfully portrays the dehumanising experiences the mostly young offenders undergo in prison but it does so without resorting to exploitation of the women or a glorification of violence. Instead Zetterling focuses on the friendships formed by the women within prison. “Scrubbers” is unavoidably confronting and disturbing - but it is also a prison film with a refreshing sense of dignity.
Content notification
Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.
Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.
How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
302845
Language
English
Audience classification
R (18+)
Subject categories
Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers
Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers → Prison films
Crime, Espionage, Justice, Police & Prisons → Women prisoners
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)