Synopsis

Bastoy is a state prison island located in Oslofjord, Norway. 115 convicted men are doing their time here: frauds, bank robbers, sexual offenders, Hells Angels, gang leaders, and (hired) assassins. Most of them with long sentences. Guards carry no weapons. There are no cells, no cameras, no fences. It's only a 2-hour swim to the mainland and yet... nobody feels the necessity. Prison policy is based on the saying of shaman Bear Heart: "If you treat a man as a beast, it will be a beast. If you treat a man as a criminal, it will be a criminal. If you treat a man as a human being, it will be a human being." Bastoy is the first and only ecological prison in the world. Recidivism rate is 30% where the average rate in Western Europe is 60-70%.