The Death of Klinghoffer

In 1985 hijacking by Palestinian terrorists of the Mediterranean cruise ship Achille Lauro culminated in the murder of wheelchair-bound Jewish American passenger Leon Klinghoffer. Adam's controversial but highly acclaimed opera plays out againts turbulent emotions and violence that are as ancient as Biblical text and as contemporary as today's headlines.

Award winning British filmmaker Penny Woolcock, working with the composer, has ingeniously reworked the original, using techniques afforded by film to imbue the narrative with realism. Whilst the main action is shot on location in the Mediterranean, actual and recreated archive footage tells the broader story of the characters before and after the hijacking.