The Penal Colony

A foreign journalist arrives on a small Pacific island 200 miles off the coast of South America. Once a leper colony, the island was later transformed into a prison and then, under U.N. mandate, made into an independent republic. Yet despite democratic structures, the inhabitants--who speak a strange dialect composed of Spanish and English--still obey the old prison rules. After sending back detailed accounts of the torture and repression seen everywhere, the journalist realizes that she has fallen into the trap created for her by the islanders: lacking natural resources, the island's main export is news.

Mónica Echeverría

Luis Alarcón

Head of state

Aníbal Reyna

Nelson Villagra

• Raúl RuizDirector · Writer
• Franz KafkaStory
• Darío PulgarProducer
• Héctor RíosDirector of Photography
• Carlos PiaggioEditor

Release date

January 1, 1970

Status

Released

Original language

Spanish

Runtime

1h 7m

Genres

Drama

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