Lyd is a speculative documentary that follows the rise and fall of Lyd -- a 5,000-year-old metropolis that was once a bustling Palestinian town until it was conquered when the State of Israel was established in 1948.
Directors: Sarah Ema- Friedland Rami Younis
Writers: Rami Younis, Sarah Ema Friedland, Eyas Salman
Cast: Maisa Abd Elhadi
Synopsis
“The film follows a Palestinian schoolteacher Basem (The Band Visit’s Saleh Bakri) who acts as a father figure to two of his students Yacoub and Adam (Muhammad Abed Elrahman) amidst turmoil in the West Bank. Upon meeting British volunteer worker Lisa (Imogen Poots), Basem struggles to reconcile his life-threatening commitment to political resistance and his emotional support for Yacoub and Adam with the chance of a new romantic relationship” (Deadline article by Diana Lodderhose).
Official Selection, 2023 Toronto International Film Festival
Director(s): Farah Nabulsi
Main CAST
Saleh Bakri, Imogen Poots, Muhammad Abed Elrahman
Producer(s): Sawsan Asfari Himani - Cocoon Films
Screenplay: Farah Nabulsi
DP: Gilles Porte
Original Music: Alex Baranowski
Synopsis:
In 2017 filmmaking sisters Georgia and Sophia Scott gained intimate access to the story of imprisoned Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouthi. Working closely with Marwan’s family in the occupied West Bank, Palestine, the Scott sisters spent over 3 years following the family as they struggled through Marwan’s prisoner hunger strike. Brought on by harsh prison conditions and the desire to make a stand, the following months were an intense year that took its toll on Marwan’s family and inner circle. The film follows painful prison visits by his family to see Marwan, only to be turned away at the last moment. As the hunger strike builds, we see in depth interviews from the people who know Marwan best, from Israeli political leaders to his lawyers, his sons and beloved wife Fadwa. Highly crafted, daring and humanist in its approach, Tomorrow’s Freedom film builds a powerful picture of a man that might one day lead the Palestinian people. And poses the question; can peace between Israel and Palestine be reached with the right leaders? Is Marwan that leader?
Directed by Georgia Scott & Sophia Scott
Produced by Sawsan Asfari of Cocoon Films, Georgia Scott & Sophia Scott of GROUNDTRUTH
Productions
Exec Producers - Tony Tabatznik, Brian Eno, Hussain Currimbhoy and Jane Merkin
Music by Brian Eno, Massive Attack and David Milln
Filmed by Sophia Scott
Edited by Georgia Scott
Additional Editors - Simon Barker, Chris Pancott and Vera Simmonds
Additional Camera Person - Hamoudi Trad
Post Production - Clear Cut
Sound Mix by Ben Newth
Grade by Damion Katwaroo
97 minutes / UK
Shot in Palestine & Israel
World Premiere at Sheffield Doc/Fest
Screening Sunday June 26th and June 28th 2022
Hany Abu-Assad directs Huda’s Salon, a thriller that posits: “It’s easier to occupy a society that is already repressing itself.” These words, spoken by the eponymous Huda (Manal Awad), act as a thesis statement for Huda’s Salon. While this is a film about life in modern day Occupied Palestine, set in the city of Bethlehem, we never meet any Israeli soldiers. Instead, Huda’s Salon focuses on the tensions between Palestinians that the occupation has caused. In this case, the film follows a true story of how the Israeli Secret Service (an unseen force in this film) blackmailed ordinary women into turning against their community to become informants [Michael Scoular, TIFF 2021].
By director Randa Chahoud, The Accidental Rebel is a film about Syrian-born Karim who lives a carefree student life in Germany with his pregnant girlfriend Lilly. When he learns that his beloved older brother Yassir has become a fighter in the FSA (Free Syrian Army) and missing in action,he feels deeply worried. He travels to Syria hoping to save his brother – and immediately gets sucked into the conflict. He becomes a fighter himself, is captured, tortured, and ultimately must discover that his brother was shot long ago.
Meanwhile, Karim’s parents are able to flee Syria, and show up on Lilly’s doorstep. Overwhelmed with the situation and her concerns for Karim, she delivers prematurely.
Months later, Karim returns traumatized and broken. Step by step Lilly, his parents and his best friend Max strive to re-integrate him into the normal life. What will happen when Karim learns that the man who killed his brother is currently in Germany?
Takes audiences on a deeply cinematic journey through the transformative beauty and raw power of water. The film is a visceral wake-up call that humans are no match for the sheer force and capricious will of Earth’s most precious element. From the precarious frozen waters of Russia’s Lake Baikal to Miami in the throes of Hurricane Irma to Venezuela's mighty Angel Falls, water is AQUARELA's main character, with director Victor Kossakovsky capturing her many personalities in startling cinematic clarity.
The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir is a 2018 adventure comedy film directed by Ken Scott and starring Dhanush. It is based on a novel by Romain Puertolas titled The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe, which was originally written in French.
Ajatashatru Lavash Patel has lived all his life in a small Mumbai neighborhood tricking people with street magic and fakir stunts. He sets out on a journey to find his estranged father, but instead gets dragged on a never-ending adventure.
Based on the award-winning cult novel by James St James and in the vein of CLUELESS and NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, FREAK SHOW tells the moving, heartbreaking and hilarious story of Billy Bloom, a boldly confident and eccentric teenager who faces intolerance and persecution at his ultra conservative high school, and decides to fight back on behalf of all the misunderstood freaks of the world.
In a village in the High Atlas Mountains, at the crossroad between tradition and change, two sisters experience the last seasons of childhood. Directed by Tala Hadid.
The Narrow Frame of Midnight premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2014. It went on the win numerous awards as well as screen at festivals, cultural venues and museums around the world including the Rome Film Festival, The Lincoln Center in New York City, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.
A man in search of his brother and a young girl in search of a home, both running toward an unknown future.
The Idol is a 2015 Palestinian drama film directed by Hany Abu-Assad. It tells a fictionalised version of the life of Mohammed Assaf, wedding singer from a refugee camp in Gaza who went to win 2013's Arab Idol singing competition.
It was shown in the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. It was selected as the Palestinian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards but it was not nominated.
In this Palestinian road film directed by Annemarie Jacir— a father and estranged son travel together to hand deliver his daughter's wedding invitations to each guest as per local Palestinian custom.
Wajib (2017) won 36 international awards including Best Film in Mar Del Plata, Dubai, Amiens, DC Film Festival, Kerala and the London BFI Festival.
When I Saw You, is a 2012 Palestinian drama film directed by Annemarie Jacir. In 1967 Jordan, Tarek, 11, eccentric and unbound, runs away from home in a search for freedom.
The film was selected as the Palestinian entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards. It won Best Asian Film at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival, NETPAC award.
Salt of this Sea is a 2008 Palestinian film directed by Annemarie Jacir and was an Official Selection of the Cannes International Film Festival in 2008. It is Palestine's submission to the 81st Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
The film stars Palestinian-American poet Suheir Hammad as Soraya, an American-born Palestinian woman, who heads to Israel and Palestine on a quest to reclaim her family's home and money that were taken during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. A young Saleh Bakri also stars in the film in his first role in an Arab film.
