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.
FILMS//أفلام
Under The Concrete//تحت السموات و الأرض
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.
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.
You Will Die at 20//ستموت في العشرين
Country: Sudan
Director: Amjad Abu Alala
Length: 103 mins
Synopsis: Shortly after Muzamil was born, the village’s holy man predicts that he will die at age 20. Muzamil’s father can’t stand the curse and leaves home. Sakina raises her son as a single mother, overly protective. One day, Muzamil turns 19.