Transcript
Early morning - Ferry on fjord | Music | 00:00 |
| CORCORAN: A ferry sets a steady course across the Oslo fjord. But there's something a little different about this vessel. | 00:09 |
Captain on bridge | The captain wears the uniform of a prison officer, and the crew are convicted criminals. | 00:21 |
POV horse and cart across island | Our destination is this island nature reserve - now being billed as the world's first eco prison. | 00:29 |
| Music | 00:39 |
| CORCORAN: You've heard of the "carbon cops" - well, now meet the "carbon crims" of Bastoey Prison. | 00:44 |
Corcoran walks with governor Oeyvind Alnaes | Under the command of Governor turned Chief Ecologist Oeyvind Alnaes. | 00:51 |
| ALNAES: No any razor wire, any concrete walls, no fences - no. CORCORAN: Guns? ALNAES: No guns (pause) (laughs) so that's true! | 00:56 |
Prison building exteriors and grounds | Music | 01:09 |
| CORCORAN: The island is the centrepiece of Norway's radical approach to crime and punishment. The 115 inmates are not just low-risk white collar types - nearly half have committed violent crimes. | 01:22 |
| Music | 01:37 |
| CORCORAN: Bastoey promises personal redemption through global responsibility. The inmates grow their own food, the vehicles now run on bio fuel. And the governor soon hopes to have the prison completely carbon neutral. ALNAES: We thought that to do it in a... | 01:43 |
Almaes. Super: | To run the prison in an ecological way is the best way of taking care of nature. And we also thought that using ecology or ecological thinking as a tool to teach the prisoners responsibility. | 02:02 |
Walk and talk around the grounds. | ALNAES: This is the church, the school building - and there is also a gymnasium in the building - this is also built in 1900. | 02:21 |
| CORCORAN: Built more than a century ago as a boy's home - Bastoey - has a relaxed feel. | 02:33 |
| ALNAES: We have a football team which plays in a soccer league - we also play indoor hockey. There's a lot of activities. CORCORAN: And in the winter? ALNAES: In the winter we go skiing. | 02:40 |
Sigurd goes into the sheep pen | CORCORAN: So I guess some people may see this more like Club Med than a prison? When they hear that those sorts of activities are on offer. ALNAES: Maybe some would say this is a Scout camp - for grown up people - but no one is here because they want to be here. | 02:54 |
| CORCORAN: Prisoner Sigurd is in charge of the sheep. ALNAES: Prisoners who work with animals - with horses or cattle or sheep, they learn in a way also empathy because there is a living creature which are depending on them. | 03:18 |
| CORCORAN: The prison's organic meat commands high prices from top restaurants. But for Sigurd, it's often difficult sending his charges off to the abattoir. SIGURD: I take care of them - | 03:38 |
Sigurd | give them food, water - when they are going to have lambs, I take them - it's a good place to be. CORCORAN: It may be a good place to be - but he never forgets why he's here. SIGURD: I was out one evening - took a girl with me home - she tried to rob me with a knife and I lose my control for a minute - and she died. | 03:51 |
Sigurd with sheep | CORCORAN: Convicted of manslaughter, this is Sigurd's last week in jail. Going home won't be easy, but Sigurd feels his time here will give him a better chance of building a new life. | 04:21 |
Sigurd | SIGURD: I got 8 years - so it's been a long time. CORCORAN: I bet it has. And how does being here compare to the other prisons? SIGURD: It's another world - to stay here - instead of staying -- in a locked prison people get destroyed. | 04:34 |
Hens running out into wire enclosure | CORCORAN: In this prison - only the free range chickens live behind the wire. | 04:55 |
Long lens shot from island - across the water to "civilisation" | Idyllic it may be - but the Governor reveals there have still been two escapes. In keeping with Norway's reformist policies, the safety of escapees is more important than recapture. | 05:03 |
Alnaes | CORCORAN: If someone does escape - you only have one request? ALNAES: We want them to call us - and to tell us that they are good -that they are well. So we would like them to tell us it went well. CORCORAN: That's a very progressive attitude! (laughter) ALNAES: Yeah. | 05:16 |
Sawmill | Music | 05:34 |
Timber yard walk by - then interior of sawmill with prisoner and prison guard instructor. | ALNAES: This is the timber we take out of our own forest - and we cut it up at the saw over there - and we produce planks which we use to restore the houses. | 05:41 |
| Music | 05:51 |
Walk towards big old heritage listed house | CORCORAN: It's quite impressive? ALNAES: Yes, a nice house - it's from 1900 -it demands a lot of restoration work so... CORCORAN: This is the reception centre, first stop for prisoners transferred to the island. | 05:57 |
Walk inside Meet/greet Hans Peter | ALNAES: Shall we have a look. CORCORAN: Many have spent years locked in a cell. Here, they learn how to relax and reflect on their crimes - under the watchful eye of "house father" - prisoner Hans Peter. A professional chef and caterer - he's doing time for tax evasion. | 06:13 |
Nice living area/lounges/big TV | CORCORAN: This is your living area here? HANS PETER: Yes, it's our living room, and we watch the television, we play cards, we discuss everything that happens out there - and have quite nice evening out here. | 06:36 |
Hans Peter lights furnace
| CORCORAN: Hans Peter's pride and joy lies in the basement. The big wood fired boilers are now replacing diesel oil and electrical heating systems. | 06:54 |
| While cutting carbon emissions is important - surviving Norway's savage winters is just as vital. | 07:08 |
| HANS PETER: You can start electricity - it is important for us in winter. CORCORAN: I bet it is! It gets a bit cold around here in the winter time? HANS PETER: Yes! (laughter) | 07:19 |
Reporter and Hans Peter walk to room
| CORCORAN: So you have your own room? HANS PETER: Yes, and my own key. So nobody can lock me in here and I can come in just as I want. So here is my little room CORCORAN: This is where you live? HANS PETER: Yes my TV, my radio my laptop machine, and I see the sea. | 07:31 |
Family pictures pinned to board | CORCORAN: While Hans Peter is doing his time easy - it's still tough for his daughters and wife, forced to deal with his absence - and the social stigma of imprisonment. | 07:58 |
Hans Peter takes picture of wife off board and shows Corcoran | HANS PETER: That's my wife - that's the queen. CORCORAN: Your queen? HANS PETER: Yes, that's my queen -- she's fabulous - she's standing behind me - and she wait for me until I come out again. | 08:06 |
Scenery shots around prison | Music | 08:18 |
Hans Peter in room/Prison exteriors | CORCORAN: Is this a naïve social experiment - or an act of environmental inspiration? Success or failure will ultimately lie in the hands of Bastoey's graduates when they're released back into Norwegian society. But on this island in the Oslo fjord - one man is determined to make it work. | 08:27 |
Alnaes | CORCORAN: You are very passionate about this place, aren't you? ALNAES: Yeah, yeah, I am. I am very proud of this prison because I think we have been able to show people which have done very cruel actions and terrible crimes - they can actually be in such a prison - and can , they can behave like ordinary people. | 08:55 |