After 27 years in prison, Hector, a surrealist painter and university student, explores his newfound freedom and connection to nature.
“Yesterday morning, I dreamt I was standing in line, asking an officer if it was okay to be there—and when I woke up, I was happy to not have awoken in a prison cell.”
—Hector “Bori” Rodriguez
Bloom unravels the transformative journey of Hector, a man who seeks sanctuary in art after a tumultuous past marked by violence and incarceration.
The film explores his complex inner world through vivid paintings and immersive GoPro sequences, blending footage from Hector's perspective with his audio dream diary, inner thoughts, and poetry.
These elements reveal his journey with newfound freedom while evolving his connection to nature and femininity.
Freedom, Through the Eyes of the Formerly Incarcerated
Through Hector’s lens, we see the world from the perspective of someone who spent most of his adult life behind bars, offering a fresh view of freedom and the challenges of readjusting to the outside world.
In prison, constant surveillance heightened Hector's self-awareness, which influenced our filmmaking approach. I decided to hand the camera over to Hector, allowing him to document his experiences from his own perspective.
Mass Incarceration and Mental Health
After his release, Hector was accepted into Yale’s Prison Education Initiative Fellowship Program and now resides in New Haven, CT, where most of the film unfolds.
A recent graduate of Bard College, his senior thesis research delves into toxic masculinity, men’s mental health, incarceration, and the arts. In collaboration with his research, Hector created a large wood painting, Mississippi, for our film, which captures the entire process—from research discussions and material collection to the exhibition of the final piece.
The Art of Healing
With mental health as a central theme, the film incorporates nature and traditional meditation elements to shape its cinematic form.
This film is produced, and directed by Caroline Coyer in collaboration with Hector ‘Bori’ Rodriguez as part of Caroline’s MFA thesis at UCL’s Creative Documentary program.
Since her graduation, the project has continued to evolve, and she is currently seeking funding to complete post-production.