Scheherazade’s Diary + Q&A

Sunday 11/09 at St. Anthony Main Theatre 10:30am | get tickets >>>
PANEL DISCUSSION with Linda Mokdad, Jen Johnson, and Talia Galowitch

Synopsis:
Scheherazade, legendary narrator of 1001 Nights, here becomes any one of the female
inmates of Baabda Prison in Beirut, Lebanon. Psychologist and theater and film director Zeina Dacchace’s documentary depicts an instance of drama therapy that culminates in a theatrical performance titled Scheherazade in Baabda, where twenty inmates act out their own stories and experiences in a society that restricts the rights of women. Far from dour, these women find empowerment in their sorority and seek to come to terms with their past lives and to prepare for a better future on the outside, in a different sort of prison.

2013
80 minutes
Documentary feature
Directed by: Zeina Daccache
Language: Arabic
Country: Lebanon
Website | Trailer

“The women of Baabda Prison share their personal stories and in doing so, hold up a mirror on Lebanese society.”

Festivals and Awards:
-Dubai International Film Festival: FIPRESCI prize for the best documentary and Special
-Mention in the Muhr Arab Documentary competetion.
-FIFOG Film Festival (Geneva): Gold FIFOG award for best documentary film
-FIDADOC Film Festival (Aghadir): Human Rights award

Filmmaker bio (from received materials website):
Zeina Daccache is the founder and director of Catharsis Lebanese Center for Drama Therapy and the director of the award-winning film 12 Angry Lebanese (2009), a film similar to Scheherazade’s Diary as it was based on a play performed by women inmates, but of Roumieh Prison in Lebanon. In 2013 she directed the play From the Bottom of My Brain with residents of Al Fanar psychiatric hospital.