Reas

With the Eiffel Tower tattooed on her back, Yoseli dreams of travelling the world. Unfortunately, the young Argentinian's life is thrown into disarray when she is caught with a drug shipment at the airport. Behind bars, she encounters Nacho, a transgender man who introduces Yoseli to the women and the norms of prison life. It soon becomes clear why the rules are so unusual here: with songs, loud music and hips of non-professional actors in motion, a motley crew of ex-prisoners relive the prison lives in a derelict Buenos Aires prison. 

Ex-prisoners, ex-prison, eccentric performances and expressive personalities – Argentinian director Lola Arias' second feature film intertwines bitter realities and sweet dreams. By incorporating elements of a musical into a reconstructive documentary, the director breaks the boundaries of genres and depicts the colorful life in a female prison – not only the violence and fear experienced, but also the love, the community and the joy found.

It is important to note that Reas is more than a film: the director conceived the idea while conducting a workshop in an Argentinian female prison, and the concept, which evolved into a social project, soon transcended the screen: today, the protagonists of Reas are travelling around the world with a theater production called Los días afuera.