Tuesday 9, 16, 23, 30 July (9.45pm) four evenings of unmissable screenings from the Middle East
New edition of the festival summer edition in the beautiful Apriti Cinema open air arena at the Piazzale degli Uffizi, as one of the event of Estate Fiorentina 2024. MIDDLE EAST NOW Summer Stories: a selection of films and documentaries from the Middle East as premieres for the Florentine audience. 4 Tuesdays for 4 films, engaging stories that take us to Lebanon, Tunisia, Palestine, Turkey, to open windows of knowledge and new perspectives on the Middle East.
Program of the Events – free entrance:
Tuesday 9 July – 9.45pm
SONG OF ALL ENDS by Giovanni C. Lorusso
(2024, France, Italy, Lebanon, 73′) – vo Italian subtitles
Images of a rare visual power depicting the story of the everyday life in the Shatila camp of a grieving family. We are on the borders of Beirut, the Palestinian family Alhaddad was expelled from their land in 2011. During the explosion at the port of Beirut in 2020, the youngest daughter, Houda, was killed. It is the story of a painful end and of a necessary search for a new beginning.
Screening with the participation of the director
Tuesday 16 July – 9.45pm
BEHIND THE MOUNTAINS by Mohamed Ben Attia
(2023, Tunisia, Belgium, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, 98′) – vo subtitles English, Italian
It is the story of Rafik who, after spending four years in prison, has only one desire: to take his son behind the mountains and show him his incredible discovery. It is the story of a man who escapes from his flat and conformist environment, escaping society and its principles. A vital impetus of freedom, a departure from the conventional world, that of “political correctness” and single thought: a film that tells of fear and at the same time the social conventions that govern contemporary Tunisia and the entire world. Acclaimed at the last Venice Film Biennale.
Tuesday 23 July – 9.45pm
LYD by Rami Younis and Sarah Ema Friedland
(2023, Palestine, Great Britain, 78′) ov English subtitles, Italian
Beautiful documentary that follows the rise and fall of the 5,000-year-old metropolis of LYD, which was once a bustling Palestinian city, until its conquest with the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. As the film reveals its story, a chorus of characters creates a stirring tapestry of the Palestinian experience of this city, and the trauma left by the massacre and expulsion.
30 July – 9.45pm
ELBOW by Aslı Özarslan
(2024, Germany, Türkiye, France, 86′) with English, Italian subtitles
Hazal is about to turn 18 and is acutely aware of the xenophobia and racism that surrounds her.In constant conflict with her mother, she wants something more of hers from her life even though she knows her future doesn’t have too much in store for “people like her”. Subjected to insults, Hazal becomes increasingly embittered, but unlike many other humiliated immigrants, she does not keep her mouth shut and fights back. Debuting in the Generation section at the Berlinale, it is a coming-of-age film that shines a spotlight on the world of immigrants and stands out for its thematic variety and depth and for the excellent performance of the young actress Melia Kara. Italian premiere