Country: Morocco
Director: Alaa Eddine Aljem
Length: 126 mins
Synopsis: Amine steals a big bag of money and escapes into the hills with the police hot on his trail. Before he is arrested, he digs a grave to bury the cash and disguises it as a modest tomb. Years later, Amine is released from prison and sets off to find his money. In the meantime, a religious shrine has been built directly over the place he buried his cash. The mausoleum honours an unknown saint from the region whose tomb was recently discovered. Down the hill from the resting place of the “The Unknown Saint”, a new village subsists on the pilgrims who travel from far and wide to visit the mausoleum. Amine settles into the village and begins plotting a way in. But with the loot now hidden in a holy place, retrieving it suddenly becomes much more complicated.
FILMS//أفلام
The Unknown Saint//سيد المجهول
The Way Back//طريق العودة
Country: Libya
Director: Malek Mohamed Elmaghrebi
Length: 18 mins
Synopsis: Tawergha is a village in the middle of northern Libya, during the events of the Libyan revolution on February 17, 2011, all those living in Tawergha were expelled until the announcement of reconciliation between the conflicting parties after seven years, but it seems that only declaring reconciliation is not enough until the population returns to settle again in Tawergha, and through the heroes of the story, Khairy, who decided to live in Tawergha again, and Salem, who is still not convinced to return.
The Window//ما بعد آب
Country: Lebanon
Director: Sarah Kaskas
Length: 16 mins
Synopsis: A year after Beirut’s port explosion, Basma and Mariam reunite in their old bedroom. Surrounded by a view of the port’s remains, the two women attempt to resolve their shared trauma and broken relationship.
To A Land Unknown
Country: Palestine, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Netherlands, Greece, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
Director: Mehdi Fleifel
Length: 105 mins
Synopsis: Chatila and Reda are saving to pay for fake passports to get out of Athens. But when Reda loses their hard-earned cash to his dangerous drug addiction, Chatila hatches an extreme plan, which involves them posing as smugglers and taking hostages in an effort to get him and his best friend out of their hopeless environment before it is too late.
To My Father//إلى أبي
Country: Palestine
Director: Abdel Salam Shehada
Length: 53 mins
Synopsis: “Those were days when people prettier, when eyes were filled with colour, even in black and white. What has changed – the camera, or the eye?” asks Abdel Salam Shehadah’s poetic homage to the studio photographers of the 1950’s – 70’s. Set partly in a refugee camp in Rafah, the film looks back at fifty years of Palestinian and Arab history, told through the photographs, reportage and the voices of these photographers today.
Towards the Sun//نحو الشمس
Country: Canada, Lebanon
Director: Nour Ouayda
Length: 17 mins
Synopsis: You are now in the main hall of the National Museum in Beirut. A guard reminds you that you are encouraged to touch the archeological objects. A voice in your headset suggests that you lick the stone. You are now facing a hole in the wall on the lower left corner of a mosaic. The voice in your headset indicates that it was made by a sniper. Out of curiosity, you dial 1-9-9-1 to listen to the rest of the story.
Traces//آثار
Country: Canada, Lebanon
Director: Chantal Partamian
Length: 9 mins
Synopsis: In the midst of the rubble of a torn building, a reel of film.
Un Passage entre Deux Points
Country: Tunisia
Director: Lamis Souliman
Length: 10 mins
Synopsis: In a confrontation structure between emotional and spatial alienation, out of a party full with tipsy attendees, an alienated girl fleeing through a path hidden between two stopped points in ‘Time’. She takes her journey moving on the very fine line between the outer reality and a parallel universe. Through the mental sounds and expressive movements of a girl who travels in a circular path between the real world and the self-realm, the film embodies images of optional and compulsory isolation within the life of an expatriate person, in deconstructing for the meanings of fulfilled existence and residential affiliation
Under The Concrete//تحت السموات و الأرض
Country: Lebanon
Director: Roy Arida
Length: 79 mins
Synopsis: Beirut, Lebanon 2017. As the country trembles a man decides to attempt to break the world record of depth in deep diving.
Valley of Exile//وادي المنفى
Country: Canada
Director: Anna Fahr
Length: 107 mins
Synopsis: Set in the early years of the Syrian war, Valley of Exile chronicles the journey of Rima and Nour, two sisters who find unexpected refuge in a makeshift settlement in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley after fleeing war-torn Damascus.
VHS Tape Replaced
Country: Saudi Arabia, Canada
Director: Maha Al-Saati
Length: 17 mins
Synopsis: Set in 1987, a young black Saudi man attempts to impress a girl by mimicking the music video of Crown, an iconic singer from that time.
Virtual Voice
Country: Sudan
Director: Suzannah Mirghani
Length: 7 mins
Synopsis: This is a satirical review of our times. Suzi doll is an ego-warrior. My online avatar, marching to the algorithms of social media. She is lit by temporary outrage. A trending indignation. A passion that is fashion. A politics of the popular. Her activism is abstract. Her help is hypothetical. We know many girls like Suzi, and many times we are her: vacuous virtual voices, echoing injustices.
Visions of Basra
Country: Canada
Director: Noor Gatih
Length: 5 mins
Synopsis: Visions of Basra explores my mother’s fragmented memories of her homeland by exploring her photographs, colours and words. Each moving visual appears to be imperfect or out of focus the more detailed her recollections become.
Warsha//ورشة
Country: Lebanon
Director: Dania Bdeir
Length: 16 mins
Synopsis: A Syrian migrant working as a crane operator in Beirut volunteers to cover a shift on one of the most dangerous cranes, where he is able to find his freedom.
Water Religion//ديانة الماء
Country: Oman
Director: Haitham Sulaiman
Length: 29 mins
Synopsis: Water Religion is a short narrative film tells the story of Issa, a blind tanager who has dream to sail the sea looking after his lost father fisherman against all odds.
We Were There
Countries: Lebanon, Canada
Director: Rodrigue Hammal
Length: 8 mins
Synopsis: A father who came to Beirut with his family to start over. A mother who left her native village for her own reasons. Their paths crossed as the city’s fate was about to drastically change.
What Else Grows On The Palm Of Your Hand?
Country: Belgium, Morocco
Director: Dhiaa Biya
Length: 16 mins
Synopsis: The routines of two women fuse together as their similar gestures get repeated over time. Their hands intersect through their shared memory one movement at a time.
Where the Wind Comes From//وين ياخذنا الريح
Country: Tunisia, France, Qatar
Director: Amel Guellaty
Length: 99 mins
Synopsis: Fearless spirit Alyssa and sensitive artist Mehdi, best friends since childhood, feel cramped in their life in the outskirts of Tunis. When Alyssa discovers an artist contest in Djerba that might be their ticket out, she pulls Mehdi into a fantastical journey across Tunisia which will put their friendship to the test. Where the Wind Comes From is a road-trip film about two childhood friends bound by something deeper than romance — an unshakable, loyal friendship.
With Strings Attached
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Alla Abdunabi
Length: 3 mins
Synopsis: The importance of women in this world is often neglected. This narrative stop-motion film explores the complexities of a relationship with a mother. The emphasis of a woman’s presence on a child’s growth is hidden between the lines of this short film. However, the connection must come to an end; after all, there are always strings attached.
You Resemble Me
Country: France, Egypt, United States
Director: Dina Amer
Length: 90 mins
Synopsis: When the bond is broken between two sisters, a little girl transforms into someone new in the name of belonging and resistance. Director Dina Amer takes one of the darkest tales of our time, the story of Muslim terror in the West, and deconstructs it in a story about family, love, sisterhood, and fractured identity.