Mel Gibson’s upcoming film has been met with protests in Mexico over plans to transfer prisoners ahead of shooting.
Gibson will begin filming the action-drama How I Spent My Summer Vacation at the Ignacio Allende prison in the Gulf coast city of Veracruz next month and some inmates will be be relocated to make way for production, the BBC reported this week.
The protesters say it would be more difficult for them to visit loved ones incarcerated in the prison or bring them food if they are transferred out of Veracruz.
One protester held a sign that read, “No transfers to make a movie.”
“We have been here all night, supporting our relatives. While we are here we won’t let anyone take them away,” said another.
Gerardo Duran, the director of the Ignacio Allende prison, says the reports of massive transfers are just hearsay, but he did acknowledge that part of the facility will be cleared to allow the filmmakers to work.
How I Spent My Summer Vacation — written and directed by Gibson — will feature the Braveheart star as a career criminal who learns to survive in a violent Mexican prison with the help of a 9-year-old boy.