By Marwa al-Sahili
TUNIS
The Tunisian authorities on Sunday will allow some 500 prison inmates to watch films screened as part of the 29th Carthage Film Festival, which is slated to kick off this weekend.
In 2015, four Tunisian prison facilities were chosen to host film screenings as part of the festival.
The first of its kind in the Arab world, the initiative was organized in coordination with Tunisia’s Justice Ministry and the World Organization Against Torture.
This year, roughly 500 prison inmates will be able to watch film screenings from Nov. 4 to 9, festival director Najib Ayyad said at a Wednesday press conference in Tunis.
According to Sufiyan Mazghish, a spokesman for Tunisia’s General Directorate for Prisons and Reeducation, the directorate “is seeking to provide inmates with some social services so they might eventually be reintegrated into society”.
“The deprivation of liberty doesn’t mean prisoners should lose all their cultural rights,” he said.
“Cultural creativity tends to inculcate values of tolerance,” he added.
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