A murderer serving life in prison in Italy is predicted to be the toast of this year's (12) Cannes Film Festival in France.
Jailbird Aniello Arena plays a Naples fishmonger who becomes obsessed with appearing on a Big Brother-style TV show in Matteo Garrone's movie Reality.
Arena, who was imprisoned 20 years ago, was allowed to take part in the production after a judge gave him permission to leave jail for filming.
He had previously performed with a prison theatre production company and has wowed critics with his debut movie role.
The actor was denied prison leave to travel to France to attend the film's gala premiere on Friday (18May12).