Colin Firth is usually to be found in front of the camera, doing his part in the likes of Bridget Jones’ Diary or Nanny McPhee.
But he’s stepping behind it to produce a documentary call In Prison My Whole Life. It focuses Mumia Abu-Jamal, an ex-Black Panther sent to jail 25 years ago for killing a police officer. But the doc actually follows a man born on the day the officer was murdered, discovering why the Jamal case has been such a touchstone for death penalty protestors and how the man himself became an icon to hip-hop lovers.
"My point of entry was this white, middle-class English guy named William Francome, whose birthday coincided with the killing, and a journey of this boy's consciousness," Firth told Variety. "It's a prism to look at how much society and grassroots politics have changed over 25 years."