Director: Zeina Daccache
Country: Lebanon
Year: 2010
Length: 78 minutes
Genre: Documentary
Screening Times: Monday, February 28, 2011 at 8 PM | Buy Tickets
Co-presented by the Young Centre For The Performing Arts
Synopsis
In Lebanon’s largest and most notorious prison, forty-five inmates participating in a production of Reginald Rose’s courtroom drama 12 Angry Men use the play as an opportunity to examine their own lives and decisions while preparing for their performance before a curious public. A fascinating study of artistic creation in a country where censorship controls have become increasingly rigid, 12 Angry Lebanese sensitively explores the personal stories of each of the men but finds its emotional core in Zeina Daccache, the play’s director and the sole woman amongst a population of convicted murderers, drug dealers and rapists, who uses art to restore these men’s sense of humanity and self-worth.
Festivals & Awards
Dubai International Film Festival, UAE 2009: MUHR ARAB DOCUMENTARY FIRST PRIZE and PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD
Dox Box International Documentary Film Festival, Syria 2010: FIRST PRIZE (AUDIENCE AWARD)
Film funded by the Italian Development Cooperation Office/Embassy of Italy in Beirut under the framework of ROSS Emergency Program
Interviews & Reviews
Arab Comment — “12 Angry Lebanese”: interview with Zeina Daccache
BBC News — Lebanese prisoners stage drama
Global Post — Life behind bars becomes theatre
Gutter Poetry in the Arab World — 12 Angry Lebanese’ Touch So Many More
IPS News — ’12 Angry Lebanese’ Touch So Many More
Menassat — Twelve Angry Lebanese
NOW Lebanon — Twelve angry Lebanese: A play in a prison lends life to a grim monument
About Catharsis
Catharsis, the Lebanese Center for Drama Therapy, is the NGO who produced and implemented the pioneering artistic project 12 Angry Lebanese that was presented by the inmates of Roumieh Prison in 2009. Catharsis’ mission is to promote and offer therapeutic actions through the use of art and theatre processes for persons and groups especially by means of Drama Therapy.
External Links
12 Angry Lebanese Trailer
12 Angry Lebanese on Facebook