» El Patio de mi Cárcel / My Prison Yard (2008, Spain)
A real-life triumph-through-adversity tale about how a theatre troupe was formed in a tough Spanish female penitentiary.
» Uçurtmayi Vurmasinlar (1989, Turkey)
Translates roughly as ‘Don’t Let Them Shoot the Kite.’ A woman, imprisoned for murder in self-defence, befriends another inmate’s child.
» Tomorrow La Scala! (2002, UK)
A small opera company manages to get further funding by working with prisoners in a maximum security prison. They audition eight lifers and one staff member and give them all parts in the chorus.
» Alles nur Tarnung (1996, Germany)
‘A chatty, ribald coming-of-age meets coming-of-wisdom jail-house tale.’
» Vägen Ut / Breaking Out (1999, Sweden)
Comedy in which a frustrated thespian tries to bring the joys of the theatre to a group of inmates, some of whom are more interested in the opportunity to escape than the dramatic arts.
» Longe da Vista (1998, Portugal)
In order to make some much-needed cash for himself, Eugenio, a 65-year-old prisoner impersonates a young woman and begins corresponding with a lonely Portuguese truck driver living in Boston, hoping that he will send money.
» Entre Rojas (1995, Spain)
‘Among Reds.’ Penelope Cruz stars in a film about a well-heeled woman who has to mix it with a range of different prisoner types while serving a 10 year sentence as a political prisoner.