While visiting a friend at a prison near Madrid, filmmaker Carlos Bosch became aware of a remarkable competition that was taking place behind bars. The Festival of Song is an annual singing competition in which inmates vie for bragging rights as the best singer in the jailhouse, but what might seem like a karaoke competition to some is revealed to be a testament to hope and the power of love in a place where both are in short supply. Septiembres (aka Septembers) is a documentary which offers an inside look at the Festival of Song contest as well as profiling a number of the entrants, including Arturo, a gypsy who sings for the wife and child he's left behind, Rudolf, a Lithuanian expatriate who dedicates his performance to a Ukrainian girl he once loved, and Adelberto, who pays homage to his grandmother. The winners of the Madrid competition then go on to a nationwide event in which their competition includes at least one European rock star who has run afoul of the law. Septiembres was screened in competition at the 2007 Miami International Film Festival.~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide