Languages Archives: Arabic

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A woman tighly hugs her young son in a filed of yellow flowers

Who Do I Belong To Mé el Aïn

  Meryam Joobeur

  Tunisia, France, Canada     117 minutes

Synopsis

Aicha lives in Tunisia’s isolated north with her husband and youngest son. Following the departure of their oldest boys to fight alongside ISIS in Syria, the family exists in a state of fear and uncertainty. Then Mehdi, her oldest, reappears unexpectedly with a mysterious, pregnant bride, and a creeping panic begins to take hold of the family and surrounding community. Mehdi’s return seems to trigger strange happenings around the village, and an unseen darkness lurks around every corner. Shot with stunning intimacy, director Meryam Joobeur deploys breathtaking close-ups that turn faces into landscapes. Charged, wordless gazes and an unsettling, dreamlike atmosphere deepen the sense of mystery as Aicha quietly struggles between her instinct to protect her family and her moral commitment to root out the truth.

 Arabic with subtitles

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Nadim Cheikhrouha, Sarra Ben Hassen, Annick Blanc, Maria Gracia Turgeon, Meryam Joobeur
  •   Meryam Joobeur
  •   Maxime Mathis, Meryam Joobeur
  •   Vincent Gonneville
  •   Salha Nasraoui, Mohamed Hassine Grayaa, Malek Mechergui, Adam Bessa, Dea Liane, Rayen Mechergui, Chaker Mechergui
  •   Peter Venne
  •   Tanit Films, Midi La Nuit, Instinct Bleu

Sponsors

New Directors Program Patron

Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation

With Support From

Logo: Canada 313x100

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A woman in the foreground smoking, out of focus. A man smiles at her.

Turning Tables Klandestin

  Angelina Maccarone

  Germany     124 minutes

Synopsis

A bombing in Munich has reverberations throughout the city, setting into motion a chain of events with far-reaching political and personal consequences. Conservative politician Mathlide (Barbara Sukowa, Lola, Rosa Luxembourg, Hannah Arendt) has been a staunch advocate for strict EU border controls to limit migrant populations. When she’s asked to hide Malik (Habib Adda), a young Moroccan who has entered the EU illegally, by close friend and artist Richard (Lambert Wilson, Of Gods and Men, The Matrix series) her ideological and private loyalties collide. When Malik is unjustly identified as a suspect in the bombing, Mathlide’s aide Amina (Banafshe Hourmazdi) begins to question her own allegiances.

 German, English, Arabic with subtitles

In Focus: Germany on Screen

the flag of GermanyThis film is part of the 60th Chicago International Film Festival’s In Focus: Germany on Screen collection highlighting the work of Germany’s most gifted auteur filmmakers.

Learn more about this collection

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Martina Haubrich, Claudia Schröter
  •   Angelina Maccarone
  •   Gergana Voigt
  •   Florian Foest
  •   Barbara Sukowa, Lambert Wilson, Banafshe Hourmazdi, Habib Adda, Katharina Schüttler
  •   Freya Arde
  •   Dorissa Berninger
  •   CALA Film - Berlin, Erfurt, Darmstadt
  •   https://www.calafilm.de/klandestin

Sponsors

With Support From

Logo: German Film Office 141x125Logo: German Films - 315x100Logo: Goethe Institut 62x100

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Two men sit on a planter in a city

To a Land Unknown

  Mahdi Fleifel

  United Kingdom, Palestine, France, Greece, Netherlands, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia     105 minutes

Synopsis

Displaced Palestinian cousins Chatila and Reda are stuck in Athens. They live in a crowded group home with other migrants, and steal and save what they can to pay for fake passports that will take them to Germany. When Reda relapses into his addictions and spends all their savings, Chatila devises what seems like a foolproof smuggling operation to earn the money back fast. Then things go terribly awry, and the cousins must concoct an even more sinister scheme in order to save themselves and their families back home.

With an intimate and naturalistic lens on the cousins’ bond and shared dream of a better life, To a Land Unknown is a tightly drawn thriller that presents an audacious, moving testament to the dire circumstances faced by migrants in purgatory.

 Arabic, Greek, English with subtitles

Content Advisory

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Geoff Arbourne, Mahdi Fleifel
  •   Mahdi Fleifel, Fyzal Boulifa, Jason McColgan
  •   Halim Sabbagh
  •   Thodoris Mihopoulos (GSC)
  •   Mahmood Bakri (Chatila), Aram Sabbagh (Reda), Angeliki Papoulia (Tatiana), Mohammad Alsurafa (Malik), Mouataz Alshalton (Abu Love), Mohammad Ghassan (Yasser), Monzer Reyahnah (Marwan)
  •   Nadah El Shazly
  •   Elisa Van Waeyenberge, François De Villers, Frank Barat, Sawsan Asfari
  •   Inside Out Films, Nakba Filmworks, Salaud Morisset, Salaud Morisset Deutschland, Homemade Films, Studio Ruba

Sponsors

With Support From

Logo: Chicago Palastine Film Festival - 128x100

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A man lays on his side in a rocky field.

No Other Land

  Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor & Hamdan Ballal

  Palestine, Norway     95 minutes

Synopsis

Basel Adra, a young Palestinian activist from a small town on the West Bank, has been fighting the forceful expulsion of his community by Israeli authorities since he was a child. For decades, he has looked on as houses have been demolished and his family has been harassed, because, as he says, “we have no other land.” When he meets Yuval, an idealistic Israeli journalist who wants to document the ongoing brutality, an unlikely alliance develops between the two.

Compelling and inspiring, the film closely chronicles the devastating and heartbreaking day-to-day assaults against the Palestinian people, as well as their attempts to rebuild. It also explores the complicated relationship between Adra and Yuval, who — despite their differences in privilege and power — share an unwavering faith in the recorded image to make a difference. Extraordinarily empathic and moving, No Other Land is a stunning and all-too-relevant testament to resistance and resilience.

 English, Arabic, Hebrew with subtitles

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning
  •   Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor
  •   Rachel Szor
  •   Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham
  •   Antipode Films

Sponsors

Documentary Program Partner

Logo: WTTW (2019)

Documentary Program Patron

Cynthia Stone Raskin

With Support From

Logo: Chicago Palastine Film Festival - 128x100

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A man and a woman, he looks down at her with kindness in his eyes.

Happy Holidays

  Scandar Copti

  Palestine, Germany, France, Italy, Qatar     123 minutes

Synopsis

A panoramic portrait of a patriarchal society, Happy Holidays chronicles the lives of a Palestinian family living in Israel. While studying far away from her home in Haifa, Fifi’s newfound sense of freedom is threatened when she gets into a minor car accident. Injured, but hoping to avoid confrontation with her headstrong mother, she must decide just how much to reveal to her family. Her decision creates a cascade of ripple effects, and a complex web of deceits and half-truths begins to crack the family’s foundations.

Told in four chapters, each from the perspective of a different character, the film intricately balances a bevy of narrative threads to create a swirling, kaleidoscopic drama. Featuring pitch-perfect performances and a shifting structure that subverts expectations at every turn, the film elaborates the clashing demands of tradition and progress.

 Arabic, Hebrew with subtitles

In Focus: Germany on Screen

the flag of GermanyThis film is part of the 60th Chicago International Film Festival’s In Focus: Germany on Screen collection highlighting the work of Germany’s most gifted auteur filmmakers.

Learn more about this collection

Screenings & Events

Film Credits

  •   Tony Copti, Jiries Copti, Dorothe Beinemeier, Jean Bréhat, Marco Valerio Fusco, Micaela Fusco
  •   Scandar Copti
  •   Scandar Copti
  •   Tim Kuhn
  •   Manar Shehab, Wafaa Aoun, Meirav Memoresky, Toufic Danial
  •   Pascal Lemercier
  •   Fresco Films, Red Balloon Film, Tessalit Productions, Intramovies

Sponsors

New Directors Program Patron

Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation

With Support From

Logo: German Film Office 141x125Logo: German Films - 315x100Logo: Goethe Institut 62x100Logo: Chicago Palastine Film Festival - 128x100