Something to be happy about: 12 Angry Lebanese

In a country with an overcrowded prison system that can often miss the mark on the rehabilitation aspect of prisoner detention, there's a sparkle of light. That sparkle is Twelve Angry Lebanese. After years of pushing, actress Zeina Daccache finally got the Lebanese authorities to allow her to teach drama therapy classes in Roumieh. Spending over a year in production, Ziena and her cast and crew of over 40 Roumieh inmates put on a Lebanese rendition of the classic 12 Angry Men. The good news is that the whole process, beginning to final performance is captured in the documentary film Twelve Angry Lebanese.

I'll admit that when I first heard about a documentary covering the acting classes of prison inmates I wasn't sold. Unfortunately the trailer did little to sway me over. However, I was wrong and I urge everyone who is able to see the film. After I came out of the screening at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival I was taken aback by how uplifting the film had been. In her the process of production, Zeina Daccache was really able to touch the lives of these inmates and we saw the best aspects of their personalities come out.

I'll include the trailer here even though it doesn't quite to the film justice. I wholeheartedly encourage everyone to watch this film and see how effective prisoner rehabilitation can be. Check out the facebook page for more info.

12 Angry Lebanese-the documentary from Mosaic Rooms on Vimeo.

I love goldfish, but how about Orange Dogs?

There's a fun little web series I started watching a while back that has really brightened my day a few times and I think that it's time to share. Orange Dog Productions, a production group working out of Beirut originally made a great 10 minute short called Beirut, I love you (I love you not) which they then transitioned into a web series. New episodes are posted to their youtube channel.

Here's one of the episodes that really drew me into the web-series and showed me how well these guys are able to portray truths about both Beirut and the Arab World.


I invite everyone to also check out the original Beirut, I love you film which you can find on their facebook page along with more information about Orange Dog Productions and their other endeavors.

Enjoy.