In Prison My Whole Life

Mumia Abu-Jamal was arrested the day William Francome was born. William is now 25 years old. Mumia is still on death row.

Marc Evans / USA / 2009 / 90 min

William Francome is a fairly typical, white middle-class guy. Typical except for the fact that he is about to embark on a journey into the dark heart of the American judicial system; the tangled world of renowned Death Row prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.

The connection between these two characters is a simple one, and the pretext for this film, as Will explains:

"I was born in London on December 9th 1981. Over 3000 miles away Mumia Abu-Jamal, a Black Panther and radical journalist, was arrested for the murder of a police officer in Philadelphia. He claimed he was innocent but was sentenced to death and has been awaiting execution ever since. Over the years, he has attracted massive international support from organisations like Amnesty International and world leaders like Nelson Mandela amongst others. I'm now 24 years old and in that time Mumia has become the most famous and controversial death row inmate in America".

Despite his situation, and against all odds, Mumia has managed to penetrate the consciousness of people like Will. Through his writings and his web and radio broadcasts from Death Row, he has become known to many as "the Voice of the Voiceless".

"In Prison My Whole Life" takes us to some surprising places and brings us into contact with some of America’s most original minds. Never-seen-before footage and brand new evidence create a prevailing case for reasonable doubt while exploring the socio-political climate of America – past and present. Angela Davis, Mos Def, Noam Chomsky, Alice Walker, Snoop Dogg, Steve Earle, Amy Goodman and many others take us through a decades-old struggle for equality, fairness and respect that so many Americans strive for to this day.

Mumia’s cause has created a political storm but after the politicians have said their piece, after the court papers have been filed and the protestors have gone home, we are left with a film about a man – a father, a son, an inspiration and a pariah - who faces his twenty-fifth year on Death Row.

Extraordinary though Mumia’s story is, he is only one of 3,350 people currently on death row in the United States. This film allows him not only to speak to us, but also on behalf of those others who cannot find a voice.

Trailer

Credits

Awards & Festivals

In Prison My Whole Life is currently touring different film festivals worldwide.

Festivals:
* London Film Festival Oct, 2007
* Rome Film Festival Oct, 2007
* Sundance Film Festival Jan, 2008
* Dublin Film Festival Feb, 2008
* Geneva Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights Mar, 2008 Winner - Best Film
* Thessaloniki Documentary Festival Mar, 2008
* NatFilm Festival, Copenhagen Mar, 2008
* Belfast Film Festival Apr, 2008
* Britspotting Film Festival, Germany Apr 12 +16th and May 2nd, 2008
* Third Eye Cinema w/ Amnesty International, Clapham, London Apr 29th 2008
* Meltdown Festival, Southbank, London June 19th 2008
* Agit-Doc at the Four Elements Festival, Graz, Austria June 27th 2008
* Urbanworld Film Festival, New York, Sep. 11th and 13th 2008
* Critical Resistance 10, Berkely California, Sep. 26th 2008
* Lyon Film Festival, Oct. 10th 2008
* Eurasia Film Festival, Antalya, Turkey, Oct. 17th 2008
* Sevilla Festival de Cine, Seville, Spain 7 - 15 Nov 2008
* Barbados Film Festival, 3 - 7 Dec 2008
* Anti War Festival, Vancouver, 14th Dec 2008
* LUU Film Festival, Leeds, 3 Feb 09
* Seattle Human Rights Film Festival, 5 Feb 09
* Paris Festival for Human Rights, 7, 8, 13 & 15 March 09
* Amnesty International's Movies that Matter Festival, The Hague , 2 - 8 April 09

Awards:
2008 Nominated, Sundance Film Festival, Grand Jury Prize

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