Posted: Sun., Sep. 17, 2006, 9:00pm PT

Firth flirts with 'Prison'

Thesp to produce Black Panther docu

Colin Firth is trying his hand at producing on the documentary "In Prison My Whole Life."

Doc revolves around Mumia Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther member who has spent the last 25 years in prison for murdering a police officer in Philadelphia.

Firth's wife, Livia Giuggioli-Firth, also will produce the doc with Domenico Procacci. Lee Daniels is exec producing. Marc Evans, who directed Firth in the feature "Trauma," helms.

Story follows a youth born the day the officer was killed. He investigates why Abu-Jamal has been such a lightning rod for death penalty activism and an icon to the hip-hop community.

"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 said. "It's a prism to look at how much society and grassroots politics have changed over 25 years."

Doc will feature interviews with Mos Def and Alice Walker. The prison so far hasn't granted camera access to Abu-Jamal.

Docu is the first for Firth, whose wife produced with Evans the doc "A Dream Dreamed in Sicily," about filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore.


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