Finally online the selection of all the films, documentaries and shorts of the 2018 edition of Middle East Now.
DIRECTOR IN FOCUS: Annemarie Jacir
Wajib di Annemarie Jacir
(Palestina, Francia, Germany, Colombia, Norway, Qatar, United Arab Emirates 2017, 96’)
v.o: arabo, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
Abu Shadi is a divorced father and a school teacher in his mid-60s living in Nazareth. Shadi, his architect son, arrives from Rome after years abroad to help his father in hand delivering the wedding invitations as per local Palestinian custom (‘wajib’). As the estranged pair spend the day together, the tense details of their relationship come to a head challenging their fragile and very different lives.
Anteprima italiana alla presenza della regista, dell’attore protagonista Saleh Bakri e del produttore Ossama Bawardi.
Palestine, Summer 2006 di Annemarie Jacir
(Palestina, Svizzera, 2006, 3’) v.o: arabo, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
Both established and emerging Palestinian filmmakers were invited to come together in a project that would reflect the “mood” of Summer 2006 in Palestine. Using one shot, filmmakers were asked to tell their stories in three minutes or less. The result is a unique perspective into the personal, the political, and the poetic – the spirit of a people struggling for freedom.
Anteprima italiana
Like Twenty Impossibles di Annemarie Jacir
(Palestina, USA, 2003, 17’) v.o: inglese, ebraico, arabo, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
Occupied Palestine: a serene landscape now pockmarked by military checkpoints. When a Palestinian film crew decides to avert a closed checkpoint by taking a remote side road, the political landscape unravels, and the passengers are slowly taken apart by the mundane brutality of military occupation. Anteprima italiana
Salt of this Sea di Annemarie Jacir
(Palestina, Francia, 2008, 109’) v.o: arabo, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
Soraya, 28, born and raised in Brooklyn, decides to return to live in Palestine, a country that her family was exiled from in 1948. On arriving in Ramallah, Soraya tries to recover the money left in an account by her grandparents but meets with refusal from the bank. Her path then crosses that of Emad, a young Palestinian whose ambition, unlike hers, is to leave the country for good. To escape the constraints linked to the situation in Palestine but also to earn their freedom, Soraya and Emad take things into their own hands, even if this means breaking the law.
When I Saw You di Annemarie Jacir
(Palestina, Giordania, Grecia, 2012, 93’) v.o: arabo, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
Jordan, 1967. The world is alive with change, but in Jordan a different kind of change is underway as tens of thousands of refugees pour across the border from Palestine. Having been separated from his father in the chaos of war, Tarek, 11, and his mother Ghaydaa, are amongst this latest wave of refugees. Longing to be reunited with his father, Tarek searches a way out.
Feature Films & Documentaries
Sans Bruit, Les Figurants du Desert
di COLLECTIF MML (Michał Mądracki, Maciej Mądracki, Gilles Lepore)
(Francia, Polonia, 2017, 64’) v.o: arabo, berbero, inglese, francese, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
At the doors of the desert, in the south of Morocco lies a small town Ouarzazate, where the cinema – “the Western eye” – and the native culture share an over century-long mutual history. Borders between fiction and reality fade away. People of the desert are now the people of the cinema. Anteprima italiana
20th Suspect Circuit di Hesam Eslami
(Iran, 2017, 90’) v.o.: persiano, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
An unlikely friendship between the director and Ehsan, the leader of the Iranian youth gang that breaks into his car. Over the next six years, the director follows the gang in this gritty, nail-biting ride as they run wild in the streets of Tehran, breaking into cars, committing robberies and fighting in the streets. But when the gang’s cat-and-mouse games with police finally catch up to them, they realize their adolescent behaviour may not be working for them any longer.
Anteprima italiana, alla presenza del regista
Of Fathers and Sons di Talal Derki
(Germania, Siria, Libano, Qatar, 2017, 98’ ) v.o: arabo , sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
Syrian director Talal Derki returns to his homeland where he gains the trust of a radical Islamist family, sharing their daily life for over two years. His camera focuses on Osama and his younger brother Ayman, providing an extremely rare insight into what it means to grow up in an Islamic Caliphate.
Anteprima italiana alla presenza del regista, introduce Giuseppe Alizzi autore del libro Sham Sham e profondo conoscitore di Siria.
Muhi – Generally Temporary di Rina Castelnuovo-Hollander, Tamir Elterman
(Israele, Germania, 2017, 89’) v.o: ebreo, arabo, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
For the past seven years Muhi, a brave and spirited boy from Gaza has been living in an Israeli hospital, the only home he has ever known. Caught between two homes and two peoples, Muhi is unable to return to Gaza. He is saved and raised by those considered enemy by his people, in paradoxical circumstances that transcend identity, religion and the conflict that divides his world. His time at the hospital is running out and Muhi now faces the most critical choices of his life.
Anteprima italiana alla presenza di Joelle Alexis, montatrice del film
Palestinians. Us first di Moran Ifergan
(Israele, 2017, 70’) v.o: arabo, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
A rare and personal chance to glance into the world of the new Palestinian generation living inside Israel. The film follows three young Palestinians, all three are third generation of the Naqba, and agreed to let the director into their homes with her camera. They speak directly, without boundaries, about their complex identity inside the divided Jewish society in Israel, which they are forced to be a part of, under occupation.
Anteprima europea alla presenza della regista, introduce Marcella Simoni (docente Università Venezia)
Soufra di Thomas A. Morgan
(USA, Libano, 2017, 73’) v.o: arabo, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
Soufra follows the story of intrepid social entrepreneur, Mariam Shaar – a refugee who has spent her entire life in the Burl El Barajneh refugee camp in Lebanon. The film follows Mariam and a team of refugee women who set out to change their fate by launching a catering company, “Soufra”. Together, they heal the wounds of war through the unifying power of food while taking their future into their own hands.
Anteprima Italiana alla presenza del regista, introduce Silvia Chiarantini esperta di cucina Middle East
Wall di Moran Ifergan
(Israele, 2017, 64’) v.o: ebraico, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
A woman who decided to break-up her marriage, fled to the biggest confessional in the world, the Western Wall in Jerusalem and stayed there for a year. “Hakir” (Wall) follows the divorce story of the director, entirely through her phone calls and recorded messages to and from the important women in her life: her mother, her older sister, and her best friend. At the same time, the film provides a first glimpse at what happens in the “Women’s Section” of the Western Wall, the most intimate public site imaginable.
Anteprima italiana, alla presenza della regista.
Mirrors of Diaspora di Kasim Abid
(Iraq, Regno Unito, 2017, 88’) v.o: arabo , sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
“Mirrors of Diaspora” is a film about exile, alienation, memories, creativity, identity homeland, survivals, and war, throughout of seven Iraqi artists living in diaspora for more than forty years. It explores their challenges, failures and successes, both as artists and in their private emotional lives. The central question is: what does it mean to be, for the most of your life, in exile?
Anteprima italiana, alla presenza del regista e dei protagonisti
Before Summer Ends di Maryam Goormaghtigh
(Francia, Iran, 2017, 80’ ) v.o: persiano, francese, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
After five years studying in Paris, Arash has not adjusted to life there and has decided to return to Iran. His two friends Hossein and Ashkan convince him to take a last trip through France, secretly hoping he will change his mind. Their friendship strengthens with the evolving landscapes and their ongoing adventures, and each one’s view of their lives in France changes to the point of overturning their convictions.
Anteprima italiana, alla presenza della regista
Iman di Mia Bittar
(Sudan, 2017, 44’) v.o: arabo , sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
Anteprima mondiale
Mr. Gay Siria di Ayse Toprak [FOCUS GREENHOUSE]
(Turchia, Germania, Malta, Francia, 2017, 85’) v.o: arabo , sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
Husein, a barber in Istanbul, lives a double life between his conservative family and his gay identity. Mahmoud is the founder of Syria’s LGBTI movement and is a refugee in Berlin. What brings them together is a dream: to participate in an international beauty contest, both as an escape from the confines of their lives and as an answer to their invisibility.
Anteprima italiana, introduce Sigal Yehuda, direttore di Greenhouse Film Centre
Kabul Dystopian Symphony di Aboozar Amini [FOCUS GREENHOUSE]
(Afghanistan, 2018, 15’ – work in progress ) v.o: , sottotitoli: inglese e italiano
The film takes you on a visual journey of Kabul through the eyes of the passengers. Despite the confusion and desperate caused by the dark shadow of endless war, people carry tiny but persistent and priceless dreams in a city where the opium and human life is the cheapest of the world.
Anteprima assoluta, alla presenza del regista
Stronger Than a Bullet di Maryam Ebrahimi [FOCUS GREENHOUSE]
(Iran, Svezia, Qatar, Francia, 2017, 75’) v.o: farsi, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
Saeid Sadeghi photographed the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988). Many of his photos were used to create war propaganda for martyrdom. Today he views himself as being responsible for sending thousands of boys to their graves. Interspersed with archive footage, this stylishly-composed portrait is also an essay on ideology, propaganda and the power of the image. Anteprima italiana
Life Sometimes di Cem Hakverdi [FOCUS GREENHOUSE]
(Turchia, 2017, 85’) v.o: turco , sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
City life is tough. City dwellers all around the world dream of escaping to the country. Istanbul’s Merve and Haluk do more than just dream. We follow them for two years as they experience many surprises as they transition from city to country life. Anteprima Italiana alla presenza del regista.
The Journey di Mohamed Jabarah Al-Daradji
(Iraq, Canada, UK, Francia, Qatar, Paesi Bassi, 2017, 82’) v.o: arabo, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
On a night in December 2006, a young woman, Sara, enters Baghdad Central Station: she has made the decision to weaponize her body in a suicide attack. But this becomes complicated after her intentions are discovered at the station by the fast-talking and flirtatious Salam. Sara takes Salam hostage, though the limits of her own agency soon come into question.
Anteprima italiana alla presenza dell’attrice protagonista
What Comes Around di Reem Saleh
(Libano, Egitto, Grecia, Qatar, Slovenia, 2018, 79’) v.o.: arabo, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
One big family’ is how protagonist Um Ghareeb describes the ‘al Gami yas’ in Rod El Farag, one of Cairo’s poorest districts. In these communities, which comprise several members of the quarter’s inhabitants, everyone regularly contributes a small amount of money into a pot. Reem Saleh spent six years following the members of one such community with her camera, revealing their daily struggle for survival and creating an intimate portrait of mutual support and solidarity in an inhospitable world.
Anteprima italiana, alla presenza della regista.
The Poetess di Stefanie Brockhaus, Andreas Wolff
(Arabia Saudita, Germania, 2017, 89’) v.o: arabo, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
Hissa Hilal is the voice from behind the veil: her weapon is her word. Hissa is a self-taught writer and decides to take part in the “Million’s Poet” show, an Abu-Dhabi based Multi-Million Dollar TV show. It is the Arab world’s biggest poetry competition, and it is dominated by men. In her poems she criticizes the patriarchal Arab society and she attacks one of the most notorious Saudi clerics for his extremist fatwas, in front of 75 million viewers. How did she gain the knowledge and the courage to step on stage and risk her life? Anteprima italiana
The Oslo Diaries di Mor Loushy, Daniel Sivan
(Israele, Canada, 2018, 97’) v.o: ebraico, arabo, inglese, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
In 1992, with Israeli-Palestinian relations at a low and official communication suspended, an unlikely group of negotiators – two Israeli professors and three PLO members – met secretly in Norway. To these unsanctioned meetings, the bitter enemies brought fiercely held convictions: the Palestinians saw occupiers, the Israelis saw terrorists, and both saw a history of failed negotiations. But united in the serious desire for peace, they continued through disheartening setbacks, escalating violence, and fraught government politics, ultimately reaching an accord few thought possible. “The Oslo Diaries” offers a broadly resonant portrait of diplomacy, the delicate nature of peace, and individuals who, sitting in fundamental opposition, nonetheless found common ground and, in some cases, came to regard their counterparts as friends.
Anteprima italiana, alla presenza della regista
Rockabul di Travis Beard
(Australia, Afghanistan, UK, Bosnia Herzegovina, 2018, 90′) v.o: inglese, sottotitoli: italiano
After living in Afghanistan for seven years, Australian journalist Travis Beard began recording local metal band District Unknown to chronicle a part of Afghan life that is rarely shown in Western media. The film features never before seen footage of Kabul and the underground scene, at odds with an extremely conservative society. District Unknown literally put themselves and their followers in the firing line. We watch as the five unassuming young men deal with identity and freedom in a place where both can get you killed. Anteprima italiana, alla presenza del regista e del protagonista Yusoof Ahmad Shah
SHORT FILMS
FOCUS KUWAIT
The Best Life di Meqdad Al-Kout
(Kuwait, 2016, 6’) v.o: arabo, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
Over the course of a day, a man is glued to his smartphone, following his favorite social-media celebrity guru as he tries to cope with his mundane routine. “The Best Life” is an amusing take on the contemporary obsession for online living. Anteprima Europea, alla presenza del regista
Men’s Barbershop di Mishal Al Hulail
(Kuwait, 2012, 14’) v.o: arabo, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
Some things are seemingly insurmountable… like changing who cuts your hair.
Anteprima Europea
Our Neighbor Bu Hamad di Meshal Alhulail
(Kuwait, 2017, 33’) v.o: arabo, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
Khaled is a twenty-something man who usually minds his own business. But when strange noises
begin emanating from his neighbor, Bu Hamad’s house, his curiosity is piqued. But soon, he starts
to regret his decision to discover the cause. Anteprima Europea
Sandarah di Yousef Al Bagshi
(Kuwait, 2014, 7’) no dialoghi
A young photographer is forced to join his country’s army as it invades another state. He is forced to take a quick decision that could have a major impact on his life. Anteprima italiana
The Unmissing Part di Ahmed Alkhudari
(Kuwait, 2016, 3’) no dialoghi
A young man refuses the salesperson empathy to sell him a single shoe even though it’s enough for him to lead a normal life. Anteprima italiana
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Kurdistan TV SPOT di Mohammed Sina
Selection of 6 tv commercials from Kurdistan TV
Traditional Tea House, Azad Rice, Altunsa Milk, Cihan Tea, Cihan Rice, Cihan Rice – Backstage
—-
Focus Siria in short
One Day in Aleppo di Ali Alibrahim
(Siria, 2017, 24’) no dialoghi
After five months of the suffocating siege and daily bombings of the city of Aleppo, a group of children take it upon themselves to start painting colors in their city as a game in order to forget their daily struggles and to show some optimism among the hundreds of thousands of people trapped in the city.
Anteprima italiana
The Painter di Mojaed Abo Al-Jood (Aleppo Media Center)
(Siria, 2018, 6’) v.o: arabo, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
The film documents the story of a Syrian young man “Ahmad Taleb” from the city of Al-Bab, east of Aleppo, who left his education at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and moved to provide psychological support for children in areas of conflict before being subjected to security persecution by the extremist organizations and fleeing to Turkey. Anteprima italiana
Letter to S. di Layla Abyad
(Siria, Svizzera, 2015, 12’) v.o: inglese e arabo, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
Filmmaker Layla Abyad sends a personal video letter from Switzerland to her friend Sama, who is still in Syria. In voice-over, she describes local life to her, sometimes with a humorous slant. At first, this juxtaposition of two different realities has a sobering effect, but when it becomes clear what the exact situation of her friend Sama is, the contrast gets more painful.
Anteprima italiana
Captain Diaa di Yusuf Aljundi
(Siria, 2017, 12’) v.o: arabo, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
Aleppo, his Syrian city, falls behind. He dreams of being a football player. He ends up immigrating to Italy with his Family.
Anteprima italiana, alla presenza del protagonista
Sons (Figli) di Antonio Chiavacci e Benedetto Ferrara
(2017, Siria, Italia, 15’) v.o: arabo, sottotitoli: italiano
In Aleppo, in years of siege and war, the children were as always the first victims.
The Day we Left Aleppo di Hassan Kattan (Aleppo Media Center)
(Siria, 2018, 9’) v.o: arabo, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
Saleh and Marwa love Aleppo. They tell their painful story on their last day in Aleppo. The amount of suffering and fatigue matched by the amount of love that brings them together and this very difficult day. It is the story of love in wartime. Anteprima Europea
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The Unknown Sweet Potato Seller di Roshdy Ahmed
(Egitto, 2017, 12’) v.o: arabo, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
A rotoscoping animation film inspired from a true events. An artist named Khaled decides to investigate the murder of a kid who sold sweet potato during the revolution of Egypt after having dreams and synchronicities that has to do with the boy and his murder. Events follow where the investigations leads to a matrix of chaos where the truth is completely lost.
Anteprima Europea, alla presenza della attrice star egiziana Tara Emad
Will Go With the Wind di Hassan Ahmadi
(Iran, 2017, 9’) v.o: persiano, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
Released from prison after years, a man finds out that his wife has given to birth a baby. His brother-in-law wants to give him the baby, but he denies the fatherhood
Anteprima europea
Rope di Azaar Manssori
(Kurdistan, 2017, 7’) animazione, senza dialoghi
The Rope represents the “false” fears of the inhabitants of the city. As they grow they feel the approach of the neck to the rope, so they continuously measure the distance. The propaganda convinces them that to escape from the rope it is necessary to shorten, offering a paid service to cut the bones of the legs… metaphorical animation on the concepts of fear and submission, which regenerate each other.
Anteprima Italiana
The Scribe di Loay Fadhl
(Iraq, 2017, 4’) v.o. arabo, sottotitoli: italiano, inglese
Luay Fadhil’s film is about the Iraqi tradition of the transmission of written information, an archaic practice that continues to exist in Baghdad today. Scribes set up makeshift offices outside public buildings to draw up official documents for visitors and passers-by. The film focuses on a man who visits one of these scribes daily in an attempt to communicate with his recently deceased wife, uniting Iraq’s present with its ancient history as the birthplace of writing.
Mirror Image di Danielle Schwartz
(Israele, 2013, 11’) v.o.: arabo, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
Jewish Israeli grandparents are challenged by their grandchild to compose an agreed-upon version of the untold story of a large crystal mirror, taken from the Palestinian village of Zarnuqa during the Nakba – the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians by the new Israeli state in the 1948 war.
Anteprima italiana
Sulukule Mon Amour di Azra Deniz Okyay
(Turchia, 2016, 6’) v.o.: turco, sottotitoli: inglese, italiano
Gizem and Dina are two young women in Sulukule, a district of Istanbul that is facing demolition. They dance in the streets and atop the ancient city walls with a torch raised triumphantly on high, burning colored smoke. Their dance is resistance, a celebration of their freedom. They want to fight discrimination against women, Kurds, Arabs and Roma. Dance is their salvation.
Anteprima italiana