lebanon

Already a well-known comedian on the Lebanese television show Basmet al-Watan, Zeina Daccache began running drama therapy sessions inside Roumieh Prison, the setting for the documentary 12 Angry Lebanese, in 2009.

Daccache is head of The Lebanese Centre for Drama Therapy (CATHARSIS), the first organization of its kind in the Middle East. She said she became convinced of the life-changing power of the performing arts after volunteering with distinguished drama therapist Armando Punzo in Italy’s Volterra Prison.

12 Angry Lebanese is her second film. She also produced and directed, Any, about women residing in South Lebanon after the July 2006 war.

12 Angry Lebanese screens Monday, February 28, 2011, 8 PM, at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 3.

To purchase tickets, visit the TIFF Online Box Office or phone 416-599-TIFF (8433) or 1-888-599-8433. Tickets can also be purchased, in person, at TIFF Bell Lightbox Box Office, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West, Toronto.

Presented in cooperation with the Young Centre for the Performing Arts.

12 Angry Lebanese is based on the stage play Twelve Angry Men, which was written by American playwright Reginald Rose and originally staged in the 1950s.

Director Zeina Daccache cast 45 prisoners to star in the adaption adding monologues, songs and dance routines created by the prisoners that detail their life experiences. Although Daccache renamed the play 12 Angry Lebanese those taking part included Lebanese, Nigerians, Syrians, Egyptians and Palestinians.

Daccache said she made the film to challenge stereotypes of the kind of people prisoners are. She also wanted to highlight the need for reform within Lebanon’s prison system, where there are virtually no rehabilitation programmes running, and to promote drama therapy as an indispensable tool for tackling recidivism.

12 Angry Lebanese screens Monday, February 28, 2011, 8 PM, at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 3.

To purchase tickets, visit the TIFF Online Box Office or phone 416-599-TIFF (8433) or 1-888-599-8433. Tickets can also be purchased, in person, at TIFF Bell Lightbox Box Office, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West, Toronto.

Presented in cooperation with the Young Centre for the Performing Arts.

This 78-minute documentary, directed by Zeina Daccache, focuses on Roumieh Prison, Lebanon’ s biggest high-security jail and home to some of the country’s most dangerous criminals. Zeina gained access to the prison where she set about staging an adaptation of Twelve Angry Men, starring the inmates.

The original play, by Reginald Ross, is an American classic in which a jury debates the fate of a young man accused of murder. Eleven men agree on a guilty verdict, but one dissents; by analyzing the evidence he slowly wins the others over. Adapted to a Lebanese environment, the drama cuts back and forth between the arguments of the fictional jury and real-life stories told by the prison inmates. The film follows the men in the prison but also Daccache as the sole woman among murderers and rapists.

12 Angry Lebanese screens Monday, February 28, 2011, 8 PM, at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 3.

To purchase tickets, visit the TIFF Online Box Office or phone 416-599-TIFF (8433) or 1-888-599-8433. Tickets can also be purchased, in person, at TIFF Bell Lightbox Box Office, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West, Toronto.

Presented in cooperation with the Young Centre for the Performing Arts.