MARCIDIS (Mercedes, Yousry Nasrallah, Egypt/France 1993, 9.4., guest: Yousra) This surrealist drama reflects the moral crisis of the Egyptian upper class. Yousra plays two roles -the rich and enigmatic Warda and Afifa, a simple belly dancer, who falls in love with Warda's son Nubi. Depicting taboo subjects such as homosexuality and Cairo's drug scene, this film was a milestone in Egyptian cinema. It is considered one of the best Egyptian films of the past decades thanks to its unusual cinematic language.
VILLA 69 (Ayten Amin, Egypt 2014, 10.4., guest: Ayten Amin) Thesullenarchitect Hussein (Khaled Abol Naga) lives isolated from the outside world. Out of pride, he tells nobody about his grave illness. Only his over-excited nurse Hanaa (Heba Yousry) manages to build up a relationship with him that is akin to friendship. When his resolute sister (Lebleba) and her teenage grandson move in, Hussein’s rigid everyday routine is turned upside down. Ayten Amin's feature-length debut is a lighthearted drama and a humorous tribute to life.
MASKOON (Haunted, Liwaa Yazji, Syria 2014, 10.4., followed by a discussion with Irit Neidhardt) "When the bombs arrived, the first thing we did was run away. Later, we remembered not turning back to look. We weren't able to say goodbye to our homes, to our memories, to our photos and the life within them. Like those rooms, we too became unhoused, with our hastily packed things and the forgotten things that haunt us." Having to flee Syria is followed by an uncertain existence in a physical and mental nowhere.
HAUNTEDis about losing a home and security, about the real and symbolic meaning that a "home" has in a person's life.
EL OUED, EL OUED (The River, Abdenour Zahzah, Algeria/VAE 2013, 11.4.) The source of the Oued El Kebir River is in the Atlas Mountains and it flows into the Mediterranean near Algiers. As he travels along the river, Abdenour Zahzah meets different people and communities - a multifaceted picture of contemporary Algeria emerges from the contemplative photos and the places' stories. In the conflict between man and nature, the director finds the global in the local and the universal in the small. "Don't show this" a man on a bicycle tells him. "The French will say: 'Look at what's happened to Algeria!' But we're much better off now."
MA'A AL-FIDDA (Silvered Water – Syria Self-Portrait, Ossama Mohammed/Wiam Simav Bedirxan, France/Syria 2014, 11. & 14.4., Guest: Wiam Simav Bedirxan) The Syrian filmmaker Ossama Mohammad has been living in exile in Paris since 2011, but he cannot rid himself of the images of his homeland, which are filmed by activists and soldiers. How can films still be made in view of the brutal events? The young Kurdish director Simav from Homs contacts Mohammad in Paris and together they work on a document of their struggle with images. The result is a stirring, honest film, a mosaic of YouTube videos, Simav's documentation of the events in Homs, discussions between the two filmmakers and a moving soundtrack - it is a tribute to the possibilities of cinema in the face of war's brutality.
DÉCOR (Ahmad Abdalla, Egypt 2014, 12.4.,Guests: Ahmad Abdalla and Khaled Abol Naga) The successful set designer Maha is frustrated by the lacking artistic demands of her current film project. Stressed out, she begins to identify with the film's main protagonist, an unhappy artist, and to question her own reality. The boundaries between the two lives become increasingly blurred, until Maha has to make an unusual decision. This multi-faceted drama is a tribute to the female characters of classic Egyptian cinema and a clever reflection upon social relations.
GOODBYE MOROCCO (Nadir Moknèche, France/Belgium 2012, 12.4.) When a Christian relief is found on a building site in Morocco, the single mother Dounia (Lubna Azabal) sees a chance to capitalize on this and leave the country with her son. However, an illegal worker disappears in mysterious circumstances and Dounia's devoted admirer Ali (Faouzi Bensaidi) has other plans. In its successful examination of post-colonial power relations, Moknèche’s atmospheric film noir depicts the dark side of the city of Tangiers.
LA MOAKHZA (Excuse my French, Amr Salama, Egypt 2014, 13.4., Guest: Amr Salama) Hany is a good and alert school pupil who likes going to church. When his father dies suddenly, he has to switch from his expensive private school to a state school, where he is first assumed to be Muslin. When the truth comes out, he is faced with all kinds of new problems. This turbulent comedy of errors about religious and class differences in Egypt examines controversial topics humorously and courageously. It was presented to the censors several times.
SAKEN (Sandra Madi, Jordan 2014, 13.4., Guest: Sandra Madi) In 1980, the young man Ibrahim Salameh leaves his family in Kuwait to become a freedom fighter with the Palestinian resistance in Lebanon. Two years later, after being heavily injured in an attack, he is a paraplegic in a hospital for PLO veterans in Amman. His carer is Walid, who has left his wife and children behind in Egypt, and who finds the separation increasingly difficult. In exquisitely composed pictures, this documentary tells a story of deep friendship and willingness to make sacrifices and of hope and dependence.
CHRONIQUE D'UNE COUR DE RÉCRÉ (Playground Chronicles, Brahim Fritah, France 2013, 14.4.) Set in an industrial town in France at the end of 1980s, this loosely autobiographical coming-of-age drama is about the 10-year-old Brahim who discovers photography. The factory in which his Moroccan father works is due to be closed down, which puts the family's future at risk. Using bright colors and the child's perspective, the director depicts an era and the feeling of being alive. (cj)
