An engaging tragicomic documentary that follows women inmates residing in Baabda prison, Lebanon.


The women inmates of Lebanon's Baabda Prison mine the depths of personal experience and confront patriarchy as they prepare and present the first theatre performance staged inside an Arab women's prison.
Filmed during and after the ten-month drama therapy/theatre project set up in 2012 in Baabda prison by drama therapist and director Zeina Daccache, this gripping and tragicomic documentary features the women inmates who, through their unprecedented theatre initiative entitled "Scheherazade in Baabda", challenge societies that oppress women.
In the course of their artistic journey, these "murderers of husbands, adulterers and drug felons" reveal stories of domestic violence, traumatic childhood, failed marriage, forlorn romance and deprivation of motherhood that become the narratives of this self-revelatory film, with flamenco dance to boot. The film journeys into the quotidian of prison life, follows the women storytellers as they rehearse for the show, and intermingles scenes from the live performance with testimonials and backstage antics.
The women of Baabda Prison speak for all female inmates behind bars in Lebanon just as they convey the plight of all women imprisoned by rigid and oppressive mentalities. The Scheherazades of Baabda dare not only to reflect on their own wrongdoings and crimes but also to stand up before numerous audiences and bare their personal stories to heal their - and their community's - wounds and express their sincere desire to change their lives. In so doing, the women inmates hold up a mirror to Lebanese society, implicating us all in oppression that often leads to crime.


A film by Zeina Daccache

Lebanon, 2014, Feature Documentary, 1h20 minutes, Arabic


Directed by Zeina Daccache & Produced by Catharsis


AWARDS
- The FIPRESCI prize (International Critics Prize) Documentary category at the 10th Annual Dubai International Film Festival (Dec 6-14, 2013) Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
- The special mention prize in the Muhr Arab Documentary
category at the 10th Annual Dubai International Film Festival (Dec 6-14, 2013) Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
- The GOLD FIFOG award for the best documentary at FIFOG film festival Geneva April 2014
- The Human Rights Award at FIDADOC film festival Agadir, Morocco May 2014.
- 2014 URTI Grand Prix-Arman Trophy for Author's Documentary, June 2014, Monaco, France.
- Best Documentary Prize at the 11th edition of the Lebanese Film Festival, June 2014
- Al Araby TV Network Award, Malmo Arab Film Festival, September2014
- The Special Mention at the 36th edition of Cinemed, International Mediterranean Film Festival of Montpellier, November 2014
- Best Arabic Film Prize at the 36th edition of Cairo International film Festival on the 18th of Nov 2014
- Best Lebanese Motion Picture Soundtrack at the Lebanese Cinema Movie Guide Awards 2014