Montagne Posée inmates to portray prison experience in film |01 March 2014

Inmates at Montagne Posée prison are working on a film about their experience in prison, the transition they have made as prisoners, accepting their situation and on the rehabilitation process.

The film is being directed, written and filmed by the inmates themselves with the help of American artist Duke Riley.

Mr Riley met journalists yesterday at the Regional Anti-Piracy Prosecutions and Intelligence Coordination Centre (Rappicc) to talk about his visit to Seychelles.

The artist, who is from New York, has been travelling around East Africa and doing research on the piracy problem and also visiting several prisons.

Mr Riley said he became in the topic of piracy a few years ago when it started to appear in the media.

“I started to research more about it and naturally it became more complex and complicated the further that you dig. So I decided I wanted to come here and find more about it first hand,” he said.

“I have seen a lot of things on my trips especially here in Seychelles that will be an inspiration for more paintings in particularly the prison itself, the design and its eco-friendly approach.”

“I thought that it would be a good idea to volunteer and do an art project with the inmates. After discussing with them about what I do and what they would like to do, the inmates decided on the film,” he added.

Mr Riley said this project is being undertaken in the male section of the prison, adding that the title of the film has not been determined yet.

The film is expected to have a mixture of English, Creole and Somali languages.