In a Hungarian prison, filmmakers task incarcerated fathers to write fairy tales about their children. Next, they will turn those fairytales into short films, with the prisoner’s loved ones in the leading roles. In an effort to help strained families bridge the unnatural divide that prisons cause, director Ábel Visky gets creative by spotlighting the transformative power of art.
Ábel Visky’s Tales from the Prison Cell, screened at TIFF Transylvania International Film Festival’s Hungarian Days, is a creative documentary about the relationship between fathers in prison and their children at home. In addition to the focus of presenting three incarcerated fathers, we gain insight into the changed lives of their families and children. As we become familiar with their daily lives, we witness the distance and even the closeness that grows between the inmates and their families.
As a way of keeping contact, the inmates accept the task of writing fairy tales for their kids, which are then turned into movies with their children playing the lead roles. The stories convey messages that the fathers have come to see as basic truths during the course of their own lives and believe are important to pass on. Within these stories, in the freedom created by fiction, fathers and children can be united once again.
“To me, it is very important to work with real people, with real destinies, with situations with real stakes. And fiction is also part of this creative documentary that seems intriguing to me because it gives a kind of freedom to the characters, which cannot be experienced in their real lives,” Ábel Visky told TransylvaniaNOW.
The feature debut of Ábel Visky was produced by Proton Cinema and is being distributed by Taskovski Films. Its screening took place at the most prestigious documentary festival of North America, the Hot Docs in Toronto.
Featured photo: Still from the movie, Proton Cinema
