Prisoners of Beckett is the meeting of two worlds that never usually converge.

One is comprised of poetry and freedom, the other silence and obscurity.

It's a true story, which begins in a high security prison in Sweden, where a young actor, Jan Jonson, decides to stage "Waiting for Godot" with a cast of five prisoners.

Their performances turn out to be so unique and genuine that Beckett grants them the right to perform his play and follows the enterprise from his Parisian retreat.

Soon everyone is gripped by feverish enthusiasm: the prison governor, an exceptionally bizarre character for the post, and Jan Jonson convince the authorities to let the five actors step outside the prison walls and perform in a real theatre in Gothenburg. An extraordinary concession followed by an even more spectacular event!

Prisoners of Beckett is a film and a puzzle, half tragedy half farce, which reconstructs this adventure and sets off in search of its heroes today.

Participants
Jan Jonson
Lennart Wilson
Jösta Hagelbäck
Marianne Hakansson
Betty Skawonius
Guy Hakim

Researcher
Michka Saäl

Writer
Michka Saäl

Director
Michka Saäl

Producers
Jacques Debs
Delphine Morel
Joseph Hillel
Julie Bergeron
Éric Michel
Joanne Carrière

Director of photography
Sylvestre Guidi

Sound
Didier Pecheur

Editor
Nadia Ben Rachid

Program unit
Thierry Garrel
Pierrette Ominetti

Program coordinator
Marianne Levy-Leblond

Production manager
Terese Mörnvik

Camera assistant
Robert Blom

Location manager
Julien Perrin

Assistant editor
Yohan Loiseau

Sound editor
Frédéric Cloutier

Post-production
Christine Cartier

Post-production coordinator
Jean-Pierre St-Michel

Digital F/X
Pierre Plouffe

Technical support
Danielle Raymond

Re-recording
Serge Boivin

On-line editing
Denis Pilon
Denis Gathelier
Gaspard Gaudreau

Production team
Alain Rozanes
Pascal Verroust
Jacques Debs
Delphine Morel

Production crew
Jennifer Sabbah
Sandrine Valageas
Elisabeth Pawlowski

Administration
Karina Megdiche
Charlotte Volpin

Associate producer
Gylane St-Georges

Post-production coordinator
Jan Manuel Wodicka

Production coordinator
Virginie Tremblay

Administration
Maryse Chapdelaine

Administration assistant
Isabelle de Bellefeuille

Project coordinator
Brigitte Couture

Graphic design
Atelier IN 16

Subtitles
Nathalie Nicol
Robert Gray

Legal counsel
Zénaïde Lussier

Song
Bob Dylan

Production
A.D.R. Productions (France)
Qu4tre par Quatre Films Inc. (Canada)
Office national du film du Canada (Canada)

Running Time
1h25 min 15 s

DVD available