Polish film gets Greek debut in a prison

Greek prisoners were the first to see a new Polish film about a reformed ex-convict, after the local distribution manager said on Friday he felt it should be shown to inmates.

Corpus Christi by Jan Komasa follows the story of a 20-year-old former convict who accidentally takes over as priest of a parish.

The film was shown on Thursday to a group of around 100 male inmates at the education facility of Korydallos Prison a few hours before its national release, said Michalis Zeis of the Filmcenter Trianon distribution company.

"When I saw this film, I said to myself that it had to be shown in prisons," Zeis told AFP.

 

A second viewing is now planned for the prison's female inmates, he added.

Greek jails are notoriously overcrowded, violence-prone and vulnerable to drug smuggling.

There is also a shortage of re-integration programmes into Greek society.

On Friday, seven people were hurt in a brawl between Afghans, Albanians and Greeks in a juvenile prison on the outskirts of the capital, state agency ANA said.