The 8th ARAB Film Festival
Opening Film&Arabian Wave
Focus 2019: Camera, to Embrace the Trauma of History and Hope of Healing
Program Event
Focus 2019: Camera, to Embrace the Trauma of History and Hope of Healing
The Special Section 'Focus 2019' of the 8th ARAB Film Festival consists of three works talking about the traumas of the current era generated by modern Arab history in different forms. In this section, < Dear Son > portrays loss-ridden parents of a son who secretly left to join the Islamic State (IS), an Islamic extremist militant group, and < Erased, __ Ascent of the Invisible > describes efforts to restore the memory of missing people caused by the massacre during the Lebanese civil war from public oblivion to official remembrance. It also includes < Screwdriver >, showing the trauma and an effort to adjust to the new Palestinian reality of a Palestinian who was released from prison after serving a 15 years term in Israel in the conflict between Palestine and Israel. How can the trauma of history deeply engraved on the lives of individuals isolated by sometimes illusions oblivion or physical pain be healed? These films will question us about our own unresolved and unhealed historical trauma produced by modern Korean history, through other people who are suffering from trauma created by the times as well.
FILMS
Dear Son
- Tunisia, Qatar
- Fiction
- 2018
- 100min
- Color
- Arabic
- DCP
- 12 and over (12+)
Korean Premiere
Riadh is about to retire from his work as a forklift operator at the port of Tunis. The life he shares with his wife Nazli revolves around their only son Sami, who is preparing for his high school exams. The boy's repeated migraine attacks are a cause of much worry to his parents. But when he finally seems to be getting better, Sami suddenly disappears…
Director
Mohamed Ben Attia
Mohamed Ben Attia was born in Tunis, Tunisia in 1967. He has directed a number of shorts including, ROMANTISME, KIF LOKHRIN(Silver award at FESPACO 2006) and SELMA, which was selected in competition at Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival. His first feature film, HEDI competed for the Golden Bear in the 2016 Berlinale. His most recent film project WELDI is part of this year's QUMRA Co-Production Market.
| Seoul |
6.5(Wed) 14:00
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6.9(Sun) 19:30
| Busan |
6.6(Thu) 16:50 6.9(Sun) 11:00 |
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Screwdriver
- Palestine, Qatar
- Fiction
- 2018
- 108min
- Color
- Arabic, Hebrew
- DCP
- 12 and over (12+)
Korean Premiere
After fifteen years of imprisonment, Ziad struggles to adjust to modern Palestinian life as the hero everyone hails him as. Unable to distinguish reality from hallucination, he unravels and forces himself to go back to where it all began.
Director
Bassam Jarbawi
Bassam Jarbawi began working as a photographer during the second Palestinian Intifada. He completed his B.A. in communication and political science at Macalester College, and earned his M.F.A. in screenwriting and directing at Columbia University in New York. His short film CHICKEN HEADS(2009) premiered at New York Film Festival and screened at (Sun)dance Film Festival. Post graduation, Bassam worked in digital distribution in New York and film production in Dubai, and finally moved back to Ramalla, Palestine to found Rimsh Film. There, he produced several shorts and feature documentaries, most recently Raed Andoni's Berlinale winner, GHOST HUNTING. SCREWDRIVER(2018) is his first feature film.
| Seoul |
6.5(Wed) 17:30 6.7(Fri) 11:30 |
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| Busan |
6.5(Wed) 14:30 6.8(Sat) 20:00 |
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Erased, ___ Ascent of the Invisible
- Lebanon
- Documentary
- 2018
- 74min
- Color
- Arabic, English
- DCP
- 12 and over (12+)
2014 on a wall in the city of Beirut are spread layers over layers of hundreds of torn posters. Selling lines and ripped images jump to the eye: apartments, pastries, concerts, loans, restaurants, plumbing, religious tours for the faithful… anything! Suddenly, in the middle of this rubble, a glimpse: the partial picture of a face. Only a moustache, the trace of a shy smile, a chin, and part of an ear. Also noticeable in the photo, the fragments of a black leather jacket. A vagabond with a pencil sets to heal the rest of the face, restoring its missing traits.
Director
Ghassan Halwani
Lebanese director and animator Ghassan Halwani directed his first short, JIBRALTAR, in 2005. He has since signed several animated films and music videos such as THAKHABOT(2010). In parallel, he has been collaborating on a research film project about the National Master Plan and the regulation of land and property in Lebanon. His latest film, ERASED, ASCENT OF THE INVISIBLE(2018), was programmed in the Signs of Life section at the Locarno Festival.
| Seoul |
6.9(Sun) 17:30 |
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6.6(Thu) 14:00
| Busan |
6.6(Thu) 19:00 6.9(Sun) 18:20 |
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