Former US hunger strike prisoners in Cork for movie screening at UCC

Three former Californian prisoners inspired by the 1981 hunger strike in the Maze prison will be in Cork today for the screening of a film on their story.

Jack L Morris spent 35 years of a 40-year prison prison sentence in solitary confinement in California and took part in two hunger strikes in Pelican Bay state prison against the use of solitary confinement. 

He will be joined in Cork on Saturday by Michael Saavedra who served the majority of a 19-year sentence in solitary confinement, and Dolores Canales, who has experienced solitary confinement herself as a prisoner and as a mother whose son was also in solitary confinement.

All three are now campaigning for prison reform and are the subject of a film being shown in the Aula Maxima in UCC on Saturday, called The Strike.

The film was shown in Belfast on Thursday and in Dublin on Wednesday.

System reforms 

Both Morris and Saavedra took part in the 2011 and 2013 hunger strikes against indefinite solitary confinement in Californian prisons, which resulted in reforms of the system. The 2013 strike lasted for two months involving almost 30,000 prisoners across the State. Some 40 of them had been on almost continuous hunger strike for the duration of the action.

UCC academic Professor Katharina Swirak, who is a member of the Irish Penal Abolition Network, said the screening is being organised by the network in conjunction with UCC’s departments of sociology and criminology.

She said the film, which was nominated for an Emmy award, has attracted a lot of interest.

“The Irish screenings are the first in Europe – they were keen to come to Ireland because of they have being inspired by Bobby Sands.” 

Hunger strike protest

Sands was an IRA prisoner who was elected MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone during the hunger strike protest in 1981.

A question and answer session will follow the screening on Saturday. It gets underway at 5pm.

Professor Swirak said the subject matter of the film is still relevant to the Irish prison system today, which is heavily over-crowded.

“It is opening up a lot of discussion about currently imprisonment in Ireland, including the idea of expanding prison spaces. It speaks to the concerns of the network.

 “We are always looking for opportunities to work in solidarity with people who have been in prison – that is the spirit in which we are organising this.”

Further details are available at https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/the-strike-film-screening-and-panel-cork-tickets-1989029517831?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true.