myDylarama

The Viewing Booth - Ra'anan Alexandrowicz's thought experiment

Abla Kandalaft — 2021-01-28T11:06:14Z

In a lab-like location, Maia Levy, a young Jewish American woman, watches videos portraying life in the occupied West Bank, while verbalizing her thoughts and feelings in real time.

Director Alexandrowicz once again explores and denounces the injustices faced by Palestinians living under occupation this time in a clever experimental process whereby he aims to capture the viewer's emotional and verbal responses to a series of videos - many of them shot by Jerusalem-based human rights NGO Btselem- that expose acts of violence, humiliation and other injustices Palestinians face on a daily basis. His aim is to try and understand the dynamics at play between non-fiction images and the way they are received by their viewers. Do we all see the same thing? How much of our own beliefs and prejudices to we bring to the experience? How much do these skew what we are witnessing and how we process it? Ultimately, how much can documentary film affect the viewer's view of the world and drive them to act?

The documentary centres on Maia who is by all intent an keen supporter of Israel and who volunteers to watch these videos, which trigger all sorts of conflicting responses and emotions as her views are challenged and her beliefs are put under the spotlight.

In his director's statement, Alexandrowicz writes "The introspective nature of The Viewing Booth determined its unconventional form and structure – one that often evokes the idea of a mirror, or a hall of mirrors. As the work on the film progressed, I realized that it is not only Maia and myself, who are facing our own reflections through this film."

It really brings home the reasons why horrific, explicit images of say, the bombing of Gaza don't automatically lead to unequivocal revulsion. As you watch these images, you think 'surely, surely, nobody could justify this. There is no world in which this isn't indiscriminate, unjustified killing/humiliation/destruction.' And yet that's under-estimating just how much one's internalised view of the world around them shapes the way they interpret these images. Post-modernism, digital manipulation and the filter of social media have all added extra layers of complexity to what an image conveys and how it is interpreted. The repercussions are all-encompassing. The Viewing Booth intelligently exposes the limits of documentaries and news footage in terms of relaying the reality on the ground.

The film has enjoyed a number of screenings as part of events and festivals, more recently through the ICA, but the simplest way to watch it is probably on its official website here!

First edition of the Independent Iraqi Film Festival

Abla Kandalaft — 2020-08-24T09:07:13Z

Oline and entirely free to watch, the Independent Iraqi Film Festival brings us features, shorts and discussions, shedding a spotlight on a thriving cinematic culture in the country and among the Iraqi diaspora.

IA: Israa Al-Kamali
AH: Ahmed Habib
RT: Roisin Tapponi
SD: Shahnaz Dulaimy

1. How did the team come together and initiate the idea for the festival?

IA: It started with a call from Ahmed Habib, one of the four people working on the festival, back in March. Ahmed and I got together and started throwing all kinds of big ideas with no experience in film curating or directing a festival, but our love for Iraq and films kept us going. Soon Shahnaz and Roisin joined the team, both have a lot of experience in the industry, from making films to curating them. I cannot think of a better team than this one, our drive to make this happen continues to inspire me. We all know how much Iraqi filmmakers and storytellers in general deserve more representation, we also know that there is a huge appetite for this among Iraqis back in the homeland and in the diaspora. We also know that if we can show the world what Iraqis can do with the support they can get, maybe more attention can be given to this currently struggling industry. Making this happen, especially now with the ongoing October Revolution, is so important to us. The revolution proved the resilience of Iraqis and the creative power people hold despite the realities they live in.

AH: For decades, Iraqis have watched their lives and deaths on full display in sounds and images beamed into their lives by filmmakers that couldn't even pronounce their names. However, over the last few years, a shift has been taking place, where more and more Iraqis both inside the country and in the diaspora, have started telling their story, our story. This festival is for them, so that they are empowered to tell more Iraqi stories.

2. How did you source the films? Did you put out a call for submissions? Go through your networks?

IA: We put out a call for submissions and we received over 80 films from emerging and established Iraqi filmmakers all over the world. This was mainly generated from social media and word of mouth. We wanted to create a balance between established filmmakers and emerging filmmakers in our programme to give the audience a holistic experience.

RT: The number of submissions we received is a testament to the power of the Iraqi community and diaspora. We all watched every single submission and then I curated our favourites into a programme, which was edited and then approved by the rest of the team. It was important for us to reflect the diversity of Iraqi filmmaking in our programme, from experimental to feminist to narrative feature films, we wanted to represent the multiple intersections working within our culturally rich film industry.

3. Can you tell us a bit more about the logistics behind streaming the films? Did you hit any hurdles?

SD: Technically, online screening has been almost effortless for us to host, and the global views have been outstanding. The biggest hurdle, however, has been the horrendous internet speed in Iraq, and it's a shame that Iraqis locally are having trouble streaming an Iraqi film festival made for them, by them. Many in Iraq have never seen an Iraqi production, either because these films have never been screened in cinemas there, or because they are owned by foreign distributors who have chosen to make the films available only upon purchase on platforms such as Amazon Prime, or iTunes among others, making them completely inaccessible to some, especially to audiences in Iraq. Our intention in hosting an online film festival is to extend our reach, make these films accessible without unjust geo-blocking, and spotlight Iraqi cinema on an international level.

4. What is your experience of the Iraqi film scene? What have you found the main hurdles to be for filmmakers? Are there common themes tackled by current films?

IA: The hurdles are a combination of things: lack of financial support, lack of security and safety, as well as poor production and post-production equipment. The Iraqi filmmaker faces obstacles on many levels from development, to production, to post production, to distributing, and making it to festival circuits. Making a film in Iraq especially is truly a constant battle. Regarding themes, many of the films we are screening in the festival deal with themes such as war, loss, identity, exile and displacement, and memory of a distant past. Yet, it is important to note that compared to films from other Arab countries such as Egypt and Syria, the Iraqi film industry is still shaping its identity due to years of war and destruction. Therefore, we hope that this festival becomes part of this rebuilding process.

5. Is it common or straightforward to secure co production deals with
foreign producers?

SD: It's never straightforward and there's always a lot of politics at play within the film industry. The biggest problem with securing European grants, is that they tend to favour working with their own crews whether in production or post-production, and this is because they usually follow schemes to support their local industry and to benefit from tax rebates. This takes away the opportunity from Iraqi professionals to work on productions even if they are about Iraq and filmed in Iraq. It's quite ironic in my opinion, and without a doubt unfair.

6. What are your hopes and ambitions for the festival? And for the film sector in the country?

SD: That Iraqi filmmakers are given a fair and equal chance in this industry. Iraqi films have been underrepresented on the international circuit thus far, and I hope to see that reversed in the very near future. By providing encouragement and support; Financially, creatively and technically, we can achieve it.

RT: We hope the festival introduces Iraqis worldwide to our incredible contemporary cinema. Our festival is not working on the extremely exclusive ‘premiere status' of competitive festivals. We want this to be extremely accessible, it is available to watch internationally for free with subtitles and there is no geo-blocking at play, an evil distribution-led practice dominating online distribution of new releases. We hope that our festival introduces people from all backgrounds to Iraqi cinema, not just those working at the ‘top' of the industry. That way, we are bringing Iraqi cinema to the people, and hopefully it will give Iraqis the chance to reconnect with and feel proud of their cultural heritage.

The festival is available online here from 21-28 August. Follow them @IIFF

Our Picks And American Horror Story: Apocalypse

Abla Kandalaft, Coco Green — 2020-08-05T14:38:44Z

Another fortnight, another episode! We start with our picks and move on to a discussion about American Horror Story: Apocalypse (S8, 2018).

As huge horror fans, we'll have other episodes down the line in this genre....

Coco's Top Pick is American Son (2019), performed as a one set straight play, in which an interracial couple waits at the police station for news of their teenage son's whereabouts, revealing the lies a family has told themselves about political race and the limitations of family and love. Despite the gratification of seeing Nia Long and Omar Epps in a sexy thriller, the best thing to say about Fatal Affair (2020) is that it should be saved for date night when you don't really need to finish the film. Two documentaries worth watching are Cannabis (S1E5, The Business of Drugs, 2020), which provides the history of small businesses pushing for legalising the cannabis industry in California and the encroachment of big businesses, and Holy Hell (2016), chronicling 22 years of the Buddhafield cult with file footage from the their videographer, Will Allen, and capturing the emotional journey of Allen's path to accepting the truth.

Abla's picks are thin on the ground, so thankfully Coco's detailed comments more than make up for that! These are Season 1 of The Sinner on Netflix, an intriguing suspenseful watch, led by Jessica Biel and Bill Pullman who both pull off nuanced and engaging performances. Abla brings it up because it illustrates a point about some police departments in the US that resorted to pinning crimes on one person to help expedite cases. This was discussed in this thoroughly informative podcast: In The Dark (Season 1). She's also flagging the upcoming Independent Iraqi Film Festival, which will be screened online, showcasing work often made in very difficult conditions. Keep on eye out for updates on their website.

American Horror Story (2011–present) is a 9 season series that airs on FX. Apocalypse (S8) incorporates the characters and storylines from S1, the 12-episode Murder House (2011) and S3, the 13-episode Coven (2013–14). Apocalypse can be summarised as Hogwarts meets The Shining (1980) meets Ghost (1990) meets Rosemary's Baby (1968) meets The Exorcist (1973) meets Lost (2004–2010) meets The Stand (1994). Although Coco thinks the film does avoid the magical Negro trope, which is endemic in horror and fantasy genres, the Benetton Dream Team cast Blacks, Asians, and Latinos is not enough to cover up the two-dimensional strong, black, and unnecessarily single women, e.g., Queenie (Gabourey Sidibe) and Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau (Angela Bassett); but the series is good fun overall, telling an old story in an interesting way, so is recommended.

Q&A with Mostafa Morad, dir. Henet Ward - Clermont 2020

Abla Kandalaft, Brasserie du Court team — 2020-02-24T11:24:39Z

Halima, a Sudanese woman living in Egypt, works as a henna painter. On a regular working day, she goes to one of Giza's local areas to prepare a bride for her wedding. Her seven-year-old daughter Ward accompanies her and starts to wander around and discover the place.

A well-structured narrative short and an impressive debut from Egyptian director Mostafa Morad, whose camera work and carefully selected intimate moments drop us straight into the chaos of the pre-wedding rituals and allow us to closely and emotionally follow the characters' journeys.

Henet Ward Trailer from Red Star on Vimeo.

Can you tell us a bit about the situation of Sudanese minorities in Egypt?

The situation of Sudanese refugees in Egypt is like the situation of other refugees; like Syrians and Indonesians actually, or Egyptians themselves like Basma and her family, all have similar issues and dreams and ambitions... And this is what I want to talk about. About 40,000 refugees, according to the UN, have come to Egypt to seek work or refuge from former President Omar el-Bechir. The question of refugees in general is a massive international issue that needs to be tackled more openly to uncover the ugly reality they are living in – and I mean in any place not just in Egypt.

Is what happens to Halima common?

What happens to Halima in the film is from my imagination as a director and writer. I can't say that every time someone who is non-Egyptian goes into a house to do something they will get beaten up, but definitely happens on a certain scale in some local areas. Egyptian society has become violent and racist especially lately. I remember from 2 months ago there was a Sudanese student who was bullied by some other schoolboys. This incident was recorded and shared on social media and everyone in Egypt watched the video. This is a shame to all of us as Egyptians and I also recall that the issue was tackled by authorities, but I think that this it needs more than this because it was just one recorded accident! What about all those that aren't?

Can you tell us about the filming conditions? Location, logistics, casting…

It is hard to make a film in Egypt especially these days due to the political conditions. Any director must start somewhere and I decided to start with Henet Ward. I decided to produce this film at my own cost and not to depend on funds as they consume time. After the production phase, other companies joined to help me in the post-production stage. Because we had limited resources, we needed to spend the money on basic requirements like locations, equipment and permits, and it helped that the crew worked with no fees because they believed in the film. The actors used their actual clothes except for some small items. Most of the props came from my house, my crew members' houses or from the houses of the residents of the area. I wanted to shoot in real locations to accurately show Egyptian society, so I chose this historical place that is near the pyramids to tell my story. The house had a very important role in my story, it had a specific character, because of its space, its numerous windows and doors, which helped me mix documentary and fiction styles and use natural light – the film was lit only by sunlight and neon LEDs that were already in the house. We shot this film with in 35mm, because it is the closest to the human eye. The actors aren't professional, and working with them was very interesting because they don't have any background in acting, and this makes them more spontaneous.

What is your background in filmmaking?

As a child, I liked watching movies and my elder brother bought video tapes. He liked American movies and I watched them with him. After high school I wanted to study at the High Cinema Institute but I couldn't, so I looked for alternatives like the Cinema Palace run by the Ministry of Culture, which offers 4-month workshops for filmmakers. There, I met someone who helped me work in the industry; he gave me a job as an assistant director on a TV series. Then I worked on commercials, but I had a constant feeling of not interacting with these films. I wanted to work in independent film and at that time in Egypt, a new wave of independent cinema started to appear. I worked with Sherif Elbendary on his first feature film Aly the Goat and Ibrahim, and other directors before finally making my first short, Henet Ward.

Do you hope to tackle more issues in Egypt?

Definitely. We have a lot of issues in Egypt and society has many layers, I have more stories to tell about the minorities and locals. I have two other projects, another short and a feature. The short is about the deteriorating relationships between married couples and the feature is about transsexual girls in Egypt and the issues they face to prove their true identity and the fight they have with the religious institutions.

Would you say that the short film format has given you any particular freedom?

I love short films because of the sense of freedom that I always get while making them. The short format allows me to be free in everything and has a challenge that I love because there is always a story that you want to tell intensively, within a certain time frame, that makes you more engaged with the film and its characters, and for me it is a very important type of cinema… And there is always a lower risk in making a short movie. In terms of budget, less time, fewer people behind the camera. In shorts, anyone can make a film as long as they have a digital camera and the right idea. It is a great way to learn by experiencing, making mistakes, repeating and growing through it and developing as a filmmaker.

Q&A with Shady Srour, dir. Oslo - Clermont 2020

Abla Kandalaft — 2020-02-21T15:37:52Z

Ziad, a Palestinian day labourer, is denied entry into Israel for work that day.
Not wanting to return home empty handed after promising his daughter meat for dinner, he needs to get creative.

Trump's latest meddling in the region has effectively left many if not most Palestinians feeling hopeless. The title of this short is a nod to the Oslo Accords that ended up dispossessing them of more of their land and subduing much of their fight for rights and freedom. The recent US "deal" further removes what was left of their hopes. Shady Srour's anger at this state of affairs is tangible in this very moving, poetic and impressive short that leaves the viewer sharing the rousing frustration.

Trailer

OSLO | Short Film by Shady Srour | Trailer from Film Five on Vimeo.

Q&A with Sofia Alaoui, dir. Qu'importe si les bêtes meurent [So What if the Goats Die] - Clermont 2020

Abla Kandalaft — 2020-02-14T16:00:51Z

In the heights of the Atlas mountains, Abdellah, a young shepherd, and his father are snowed in. As their animals start to starve, Abdellah goes in search of supplies in a village more than a day's walk away. With his mule, he arrives in the village and discovers that it has been deserted because of a curious event that has left all the believers baffled.

The product of a truly incredible mix of genres, this short is a mesmerising oddity shot amongst the stunning, other-worldly landscape of the Atlas mountains in what were apparently fairly difficult conditions. Kudos to Sofia Alaoui for pulling it off and giving us well-crafted short that leaves us wanting more.

Trailer

Qu'importe si les bêtes meurent / Extrait / VOSTEN from Sofia Alaoui on Vimeo.

Q&A with Farah Nabulsi, dir. The Present - Clermont 2020 Audience Award

Abla Kandalaft — 2020-02-09T19:23:21Z

On his wedding anniversary, Yusef and his young daughter set out in the West Bank to buy his wife a gift. Between soldiers, segregated roads and checkpoints, how easy would it be to go shopping?

British-Palestinian Farah Nabulsi is relatively new to filmmaking, which can come as a surprise given just how adept she is at provoking the most rousing emotions in her viewers by telling a fairly simple story. The audience award that she deservedly won in Clermont clearly highlights just how effectively The Present achieves its aim, moving its audience and hopefully provoking some level of outrage and anger at the injustice faced by father Yusef (and through the prism of his story, all Palestinians). Seasoned Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri is unsurprisingly excellent and Maryam Kanj who plays his daughter delivers a wonderfully mature performance. Finally, kudos to Farah for managing to film across checkpoints and endless limitations.

More on the film...

Can you tell us a bit about your background as a filmmaker?

Actually, I don't have a background in filmmaking! After a life-changing trip to the Occupied Palestinian Territories around five years ago, I started to write privately and therapeutically on what I had seen, felt and begun to imagine as I naturally found myself exercising empathy by placing myself into the shoes of those who are suffering gross injustice. Around two years later, I “chose” to become a filmmaker at the age of 38, by adapting those initial written pieces and producing them as short films. I had never worked in the industry, had absolutely no past experience in making films or any formal training or education in film, but I always loved film and that was enough. Put that together with my vivid visual and verbal imagination and my enjoyment in telling stories – and it made sense. The great Stanley Kubrick said: “The best education in film is to make one,” and I couldn't agree more. That brings us to The Present. This is the fourth short film I have written, but the first one that I have also directed, so the learning curve was huge. The process was daunting and thrilling at the same time!

Where is the film shot? How difficult was the shoot? What were the main hurdles?

The film was shot 100% in Occupied Palestine, in the Bethlehem area. Shooting in Palestine is never going to be easy. The cast and crew have different IDs and can come and go with different freedoms, which can mean unnecessary delays and restrictions. It is in a landscape under military occupation, so during the shoot we could be prevented from filming at any moment, but thankfully we were not. When we did recce we found great locations, but they were usually in Area C, which is completely under Israeli military control and obtaining permits to film there would have been next to impossible, but shooting without them would be too risky, so we had to give those up and settle for locations that were mostly not ideal at all, in more central areas with lots of traffic and noise that needed to be controlled although we had wanted quieter and less busy areas, etc. One of the hardest things we did, and took a big risk on, was filming at the infamous real Checkpoint 300 in Bethlehem (scene 2 of the film), where hundreds of Palestinians pass through every morning like cattle. The only fiction in that scene is our protagonist, Yusef (Saleh Bakri). Filming that morning was intense, as we had taken no permissions from anyone and were surrounded by real people who were being humiliated in actual fact by a military who were just around the corner. The more philosophical question though is – who has the right to give or refuse permission to film such a monstrosity and why is such a monstrosity there in the first place? It was intense and tough, and we risked attracting military attention at any moment, but it felt extremely rewarding once we were done.

Did you work with Israeli actors as well?

Everyone who worked on the shoot of the film was Palestinian, except our DOP, Benoît Chamaillard, who is French. I worked with a number of Palestinian Israelis, whom the Israeli government like to call “Arab-Israelis”. So, for example, Saleh Bakri, my lead actor, is a Palestinian who resides in Haifa and holds an Israeli passport. Or Nael Kanj, the production designer, from Nazareth and a few others. I also had a team of Palestinians from the West Bank.

What made you choose to cast Saleh Bakri?

Saleh is a brilliant actor. I had seen him in a number of other films and when I wrote the initial story, The Present, he was the actor that kept coming into my mind who I felt could and should play the role of Yusef. It's funny, because I did not know him personally, but the world conspired. When I started to co-write the actual script, a bit later with Hind Shoufani, and we discussed who I envisaged for the role, she in fact did happen to know him. So, the introduction was made. Saleh is a sensitive soul with an incredible talent who immediately understood the character (could even relate, of course, as a Palestinian himself), and appreciated the simplicity of the story. I had no doubt he could embody Yusef and I needed someone who could really dig deep into what it means to be a man like Yusef, living his frustrations and humiliations every day.

What do you hope the audience will take home from the film?

Of course, I want the film to do what all good films should do – give the audience an emotional experience. When we feel emotion, we feel alive. But I also want them to contemplate the film, even after they go home. To feel and wonder what such a life means for people like Yusef. This is a fiction film about an absurd situation which is sadly a current reality in Palestine, so I want the film to do what Alejandro Inarritu meant when he said “Cinema must try to raise the global social conscience.”

Would you say that the short film format has given you any particular freedom?

Initially, yes, in the sense that you can make more, faster and at a lower cost than the long form, and as mentioned, I had no background in film at all, so the stakes were not as high if I aimed for feature length prematurely. But then almost all filmmakers start off in the short format I guess for the same reasons. It has also afforded me the freedom and flexibility to try and find my identity as a filmmaker and as a Palestinian – if you agree, as I do, with what an art critic said in an article I read recently, that “you cannot make art without a sense of identity, yet it is identity you seek in making art”. But recently, I have naturally started to write and think in the long form feature length, even potential series format, which I didn't initially plan or think I would do. I will have to go where my creativity takes me.

Updates on the film and Farah's work are available on her website.

Short of the Week: Nefta Football Club, dir. Yves Piat

Abla Kandalaft — 2020-02-01T16:05:08Z

In a Tunisian village, children are playing football on a wasteland. Meanwhile, Abdallah and Mohammed come across a donkey with headphones on his ears and bags full of a white powder on his back. The two young brothers decide to bring those bags back to their village.

This amusing, sweet short film by Yves Piat received the audience prize at Clermont-Ferrand 2019 and has recently enjoyed both Cesar and Oscar nominations. Thanks to the Univers Cine team, you can now catch it online with English subtitles.

Here's our interview with director Yves Piat from last year's Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.

More about the film here.

Encounters 2019 Arab selection

judy — 2019-10-13T09:39:56Z

Strange Cities Are Familiar, Dir. Saeed Taji Farouky

At once lyrical and political, this film centres on a beautifully understated performance by Mohammad Bakri as Ashraf, a refugee living in London who is unable to return to Palestine to be with his dying son. Ashraf is both stern and tender as the London landscape around him transforms into scenes from his past life and the imagined sufferings of his son in the present. Featuring a brilliant use of sound from the outset the film is atmospheric and rarely overplays the tragedy of Ashraf's plight. The brutal bureaucracy he is up against in his quest to return to his son is given a kindly though impotent human form in the hapless travel agent who cannot find Palestine on his ‘drop down list'. The awkward exchange between the two men is utterly convincing. An assured and well paced film which conveys Ashraf's inner turbulence without too many sentimental turns.

Magic Boat, Dir. Naaman Azhari

'The Magic Boat | Trailer from Naaman Azhari on Vimeo.

In this animated short a mother attempts to persuade her son Khaled to flee their homeland on a ‘magic' boat, using stories of beautiful fish, coloured ships and feasts. The tension between the reality of their situation and the unconvincing stories she conjures to lure Khaled into taking this life threatening journey deepens as her desperation erupts and she utters meaningless pleas, reassuring him that he is a hero while maintaining that there is nothing to be scared of. The film is never still, each line quivers and tilts evoking the experience of both sea travel and the mother's inner turmoil. Interspersed with scenes from the present are fragments of intimate moments between the two laughing, playing, hugging and tugging at one another. The visual and aural effects are so powerful that the melancholy piano soundtrack is unnecessary and slightly takes away from the gravitas of the story. A memorable and heartbreaking work.

Makr, Dir. Hana Kazim

In this horror film a man invites an exorcist into his home to expel a demon from his wife's body. However the trickster exorcist (who enlivens the bodies of the possessed with electrical currents to convince his clients of his efficacy), is himself being tricked as it turns out the couple are not what they seem. While Mansoor Alfeeli gives a strong performance as the exorcist, this film doesn't quite pull off the muddling of faith, deception, reality and delirium that it hopes to. The return to the pendulum clock swinging menacingly in the hallway feels tired and uninspired (by now a clichéd technique used way back in 1915 by D.W. Griffith in his Poe adaptation The Avenging Conscience). Well shot and with some unexpected twists, unfortunately the stakes feel low throughout.

Run (a) Way Arab, Dir. Amrou Al Kadhi

While preparing for his drag performance as an Egyptian deity Queen Za Dream reflects on his mother's own performative femininity, remembering the times he witnessed her adorning herself with eyeshadow, bracelets and belts. After applying her makeup before her dressing table mirror young Nazeem helped her pick out handbags and outfits, witnessing his mother turn her gaze upon herself, admiring herself as her own creation and anticipating the gaze of others. When Nazeem mimics his mother by dressing in her clothes and applying makeup, she is terrified and furious and her response shatters their relationship (the mother is brilliantly played by Ahd whose response could easily have descended into melodrama). Unfortunately the use of music to underscore the story's sensuality and emotion is overplayed and the dreamy flashbacks of young Nazeem putting on his mother's clothes and rubbing her fur coats against his cheek aren't as convincing as the contemporary drag scenes. The film is strongest when it shows how Queen Za Dream (Amrou Al-Kadhi) has turned conflicting memories of his mother into a powerful performative impetus.

Our picks of Arab docs 2: Papa Hedi - the Man Behind the Microphone

Abla Kandalaft — 2019-09-30T16:17:10Z

Filmmaker Claire Belhassime unbelievably randomly finds out that her grandfather is none other than legendary Tunisian singer Hedi Jouini. As she decides to retrace his life, she uncovers both Hedi's role in political and social movements and Tunisia's art scene and secrets and drama at the very heart of her family, shedding light on why his real identity was kept hidden. Even if you've never heard of Hedi Jouini, Belhassine's thoroughly engaging storytelling skills and her expert use of archive footage and music are sure to get you on board that tumultuous and emotional journey with her.

Find out more on screenings and the film's subject on the official website and Facebook page.