BAFTA Goes To The Arab World - Film Information

OUT OF COVERAGE

SYRIA | NATIONAL FILM ORGANISATION SYRIA | 100 MINS | CERT TBC | DRAMA/COMEDY

Dir: Abdullatif Abdulhamid
Scr: Abdullatif Abdulhamid
Cast: Fayez Kozok, Siba Moubarak, Fadouwa Soleiman, Mohamad Kanouh, Hiroki Okazaki, Mouwafak Ahmad, Iman Abdel Azziz

In Arabic with English subtitles

Amer is a middle-aged man living a busy life. He takes care of his own family as well as helps his friend Zuhair’s wife and daughter to survive during his friend’s absence in prison. Added to this is a bag of odd jobs which combine working as Arabic tutor to a Japanese student, working as sweet maker in a sweet shop, and taking up taxi driving on the side. The tempo of his life becomes almost slapstick-like. Amer's wife is not happy with her ever absent husband. Zuhair has been imprisoned for many years by now - one of the country’s political prisoners with an uncertain future. When it looks like he is about to be released, Amer and Zuhair’s wife realise that they have feelings for one another.

We are sorry to announce that Director, Abdullatif Abdulhamid is now unable to join us for a Q&A following the screening.

EYE OF THE SUN (EIN SHAMS)

+ Q&A with Ibrahim El Batout
EGYPT/MOROCCO | BATOUT FILMS | 90 MINS | CERT TBC | DRAMA

Dir: Ibrahim El Batout
Scr: Tamer El Said, Ibrahim El Batout
Cast: Hanan Youssef, Boutros Boutros Ghaly, Ramadan Khater, Hanan Adel, Samar Abdelwahab, Mariam Abodouma

From once being the capital of Egypt during the Pharaonic era and a sacred location marked by the visit of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, Ein Shams has become one of Cairo’s poorest and most neglected neighborhoods. Through the eyes of Shams, an eleven-year-old girl inhabitant of this neighborhood, the film captures the sadness and magic that envelops everyday life in Egypt. In a series of tragic events, the characters of the film showcase the intricacies of Egypt’s political system and social structure, and give a glimpse into the grievances of the Middle East region and the complex relationships of its nations.

'Shams' opens with a cab roaming the streets of Cairo. A singer named Mariam hops in the cab. She sees a photo of a little girl besides the driver. She tells him that the girl is pretty. He tells her that she is his daughter and begins to tell her story. Inspired by her story, Mariam decides to sing a melancholy Iraqi tune in the small cultural centre she is performing in. Her song resonates deeply with another Mariam who is a member of the audience. The Mariam from the audience recalls her harrowing experiences of working as a doctor in Iraq while conducting research in 2003 on the link between the use of Depleted Uranium weapons in the bombing of Iraq and cancer. The taxi driver Ramadan is Sham’s father, and also personal chauffeur of wealthy business man Selim bey who is on the verge of bankruptcy. Hany, his nephew, is parliamentary candidate for the Ein Shams district.

The film deals with corruption of the apathetic political elite, the tyranny of the political system, and the impact of economic profiteering and war on the health and lives of ordinary people.

SHE & HE

+ Q&A with Elyes Baccar

TUNISIA | GAIA PRODUCTIONS | 93 MINS | CERT TBC | DRAMA

Dir: Elyes Baccar
Scr: Elyes Baccar
Cast: tbc

He chooses to close the door of his soul, the window of his life, and tries to sleep for a long time. No television, no radio, no telephone and no contact with the external world...

She came in a rainy night and knocked on his door. He refused her by ignoring then rejecting her presence. They engage in fetishistic, sado-masochistic acts that seem to bring him back to life in their own peculiar way. Does she succeed in changing his reality or was she a fantasy, a figment of the imagination of a man that seems mentally unwell?

Paloma Delight

+ Q&A with Nadir Moknèche

ALGERIA | FILMS DU LOSANGE | 128 MINS | COMEDY

Dir: Nadir Moknèshe
Scr: Nadir Moknèshe
Cast: Nadia Kaci, Aylin Prandi, Daniel Lundh

Need a building permit? Feeling lonely tonight? Call the national benefactress, Madame Aldjeria - she has the answer. When it comes to surviving in today's Algeria, no scam is too daunting for the woman who has adopted her country's name. If they're pretty and lacking in principles, her recruits can make a career for themselves. The latest of these, Paloma, is quite a hit, especially with Riyad, Madame Aldjeria's son. But the purchase of Caracalla Springs, the dream that should allow Aldjeria's clan to start a new life, proves to be one scam too many.

UNDER THE BOMBS

LEBANON | ARTIFICIAL EYE | 95 MINS | DRAMA

Dir: Philippe Aractingi
Scr: Philippe Aractingi, Michel Leviant
Cast: Nada Abu Farhat, Georges Khabbaz, Bshara Atallah, Rawia Elchab

Zeina lives in Dubai. In the midst of a divorce, she sends her son Karim to stay wither sister in Kherbet Selem, a small village, South of Lebanon, to spare him from his parents’ fighting. A few days later war breaks out in Lebanon. Desperately worried, Zeina immediately heads to Lebanon via Turkey. Because of the blockade she doesn’t reach the port of Beirut until the day of the ceasefire. There she meets Tony, the only taxi-driver who agrees to take her to the South.

Tony is a Christian. He lives in Beirut. His brother lives in Israel. Zeina is a Shiite. They have little in common but under these circumstances, that is irrelevant. They search the refugee centres across a ravaged country. When they get to Kherbet Selem, the town is in ruins. Zeina’s sister has been killed and Ali, a young boy, tells them that Karim has been taken away by French journalists. Zeina and Tony set out in search of the lost child...a journey that brings them together as they encounter death and destruction everywhere.

Under the Bombs is a visceral expression of anger and pain from a Lebanese man who could no longer tolerate seeing his country ransacked by war. This war began on 12 July 2006. Ten days later, in the most precarious of circumstances, Philippe Aractingi began shooting Under the Bombs. He only hired two actors. The rest of the characters in the film: refugees, journalists, soldiers, religious people and militants, all played their own roles. All of them, caught in the turmoil and in the ruins of war-torn Lebanon, were living this new tragedy as an intimate part of themselves. This road movie is a fictional story set in harsh reality, giving each scene a vivid poignancy.