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Huppert makes her Arab bow in search of Treasure Lady Macbeth

Front Row courts Lady Macbeth

BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW

Dubai-based pan-Arab distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment picked up 31 titles at the recent American Film Market, including critically acclaimed drama Lady Macbeth, which is screening here in the Cinema of the World section.

Front Row’s other high-profile acquisitions include Neil Jordan’s The Trainer, starring Liam Neeson as a horse trainer beset by tragedy; and The Old Man And The Gun, starring Robert Redford and Casey Affleck. The AFM additions also feature Dominic Cooke’s adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel On Chesil Beach. It is among a number of romantic dramas on Front Row’s slate along with Isabel Coixet’s 1950s set The Bookshop, starring Emily Mortimer as a widow who shakes up a stuffy town when she starts selling scandalous books.

The company has also acquired a number of highly anticipated thrillers led by Bryan Buckley’s Dabka, starring Evan Peters as a rookie journalist embedded with Somali pirates; and Gilles PaquetBrenner’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Crooked House, starring Glenn Close, Christina Hendricks and Gillian Anderson.

Front Row has also picked up Michael Winnick’s Malicious, starring Josh Stewart and Bojana Novakovic as a couple haunted by an evil spirit.

Upcoming comedies on Front Row’s slate range from Brad Epstein’s Ripped, featuring stand-up comic Russell Peters; Anthony Steven Giordano’s Robo-Dog: Airborne; and Oliver Parker’s Swimming With Men, about a man who takes up synchronised swimming in a bid to win back his wife’s affections.

BY COLIN BROWN

Acclaimed French actress Isabelle Huppert is in line to make her starring debut in an Arab film, playing a Morocco-born French woman in Abdellah Taïa’s The Treasure.

The $1.6m feature is one of several high-profile projects that are seeking completion funding as part of Dubai Film Connection coproduction forum. Representing the film here is Roman Paul, cohead of Razor Films, the Berlin production company involved in Paradise Now and Wadjda.

Taïa, the Moroccan writer and film-maker, said Huppert will play the role of the newly destitute

Janine who goes in search of hidden treasure in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, accompanied by her building’s superintendent.

“It’s a confrontation between two worlds, the Orient and the West, in a French postcolonial Morocco,” explained Taïa. This will be his second narrative feature after his adaptation of his own largely autobiographical novel Salvation Army that told the story of a gay man negotiating his way through family and desire.

The two French companies that co-produced Salvation Army, Les Films de Pierre and Les Films Pelléas, are producing The Treas-

ure, which is seen as a more commercial proposition. Also involved is Ali n’ Productions, the company founded by Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch.

Huppert is heavily tipped to finally get her first Oscar nomination after standout performances this year in Paul Verhoeven’s Elle and Mia Hansen-Love’s Things To Come. She has a long history of working with emerging and international directors across Europe, Asia and the US. Among her upcoming projects are those that reunite her with Austria’s Michael Haneke and South Korea’s Hong Sang-soo.

TODAY

The Dark Wind, p7

REVIEW The Dark Wind Drama about a Yazidi woman captured by Isis is quietly authentic » Page 7

FEATURE Ice storm The Nordic countries are seeking opportunities to collaborate with the Arab world. » Page 10

FORUM EVENTS 10:00-11:00 Kodak and the renaissance of film In partnership with Kodak Presenter Jeff Clarke, CEO, Eastman Kodak Company

11:30-12:30 A conversation with Cheryl Boone Isaacs In partnership with Ampas Guest Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president, Ampas

14:00-15:00 Screen International’s Arab Stars of Tomorrow

Neilson Barnard/Getty

DIFF in partnership with Screen International Speakers Mounia Akl, writerdirector; Mariam Alferjani, actress, film-maker; Amjad Al-Rasheed, writer-director; Samer Ismail, actor; Alaa Eddine Aljem, director

15:30-16:30 Nordic-Arab co-production

Emirati director Ali F Mostafa hit the red carpet with some of the cast of his dystopian thriller The Worthy.

From left: Mahmoud Al Atrash, Maisa Abd Elhadi, Ali Suliman, Rakeen Saad, Mostafa and Samer Ismail.

Saba Mubarak joins Inshallah It’s A Boy Jordanian actress Saba Mubarak has signed for the lead role in up-and-coming director Amjad Al-Rasheed’s debut feature Inshallah It’s A Boy — A Chapter From The Fabled Life Of Nawal.

The dark comedy follows the madcap journey of a recent widow who has two weeks to conceive a male child to stop her in-laws taking possession of her home.

“Amjad is a very talented young

director with a fresh and new perspective,” said Mubarak. “His script is different and twisted and tackles a difficult issue in a crazy way. It talks about the position of women in a way that ‘s brave and unusual for an Arab director.”

Mubarak’s credits include Transit Cities (2010) and Egyptian TV series including Afrah AlQoba.

She also stars in Turkish director Andac Haznedaroglu’s The Guest.

Al-Rasheed, who has been selected for the inaugural edition of Screen’s Arab Stars of Tomorrow, will premiere his short The Parrot, co-directed with Darin J Sallam, in DIFF’s Muhr Short competition today. Inshallah It’s A Boy has already won the backing of Jordan’s Royal Film Commission and is being produced by Diala Al Raie and Ayah Jardaneh.

Melanie Goodfellow

Panellists Sabine Sidawi, Orjouane Productions; Alaa Karkouti, MAD Solutions; Martin Persson, Anagram; Noemi Ferrer Schwenk, Danish Film Institute.

17:00-18:00 Networking session: meet the Nordic industry Participants Martin Persson, Anagram; Thomas Heurlin, Impact TV; Mete Sasioglu, Sons of Lumiere; Eva Jakobsen, Snowglobe; Peter Torkelsson, SF Studios; Ruben Thorkildsen, Ape & Bjorn; Kristian Takvam Kindt and Gjermund Granlund, Arab Film Days Oslo; Noemi Ferrer Schwenk, Danish Film Institute; Laufey Gudjonsdottir, Icelandic Film Centre; Jaana Puskala, Finnish Film Foundation; Petter Mattsson, Swedish Film Institute.

Open to DFM and DIFF delegates.

BOOK YOUR ADVERTISING NOW Contact Scott Benfold

+44 7765 257260

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NEWS

Cairo-based training and development body Studio ZAT is at DIFF for the first time as part of a drive to open up its film-making and acting workshops and coaching services to talent from across the Arab world.

“Dubai is the second festival we’re visiting after Venice. We’re keen to get participants from across the region, not just Egypt,” said Studio ZAT executive manager Ahmed Samy. In particular, he is looking to recruit participants and trainers for an ambitious film-making workshop to take place in Cairo in the spring.

Past events have included a film-directing workshop by the late Mohamed Khan earlier this year as well as sessions devoted to cinematography by Mahmoud Lotfy and editing by Doaa Fathy.

He is also looking at a number of projects in Dubai Film Connection to see if there is scope for Studio ZAT to help with their development.

The company was founded in 2015 by actors Shady Khalaf and Aya El Abnoudy to offer alternative training beyond the official state institutions.

Melanie Goodfellow

No Nation proactive with rebrand

BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW

Berlin-based Syrian producers Orwa Nyrabia and Diana El Jeiroudi have rebranded their company Proaction Film as No Nation Films and unveiled two documentaries.

The new films on the slate are El Jeiroudi’s Republic Of Silence, a personal account of her journey from Damascus to Berlin; and Five Seasons, an undercover work following the activities of four Syrian

female revolutionaries. Both films are in post-production and seeking festival berths next year.

The company’s name change comes amid a tumultuous five years for the producer and filmmaker couple who fled their native Damascus in 2012 after Nyrabia was imprisoned briefly in the early days of the Syrian civil war. After a stint in Cairo, they moved to Berlin in 2013, where they have been trying to rebuild

their lives and continue producing ever since.

Since moving to Berlin, their production credits have included two films capturing life in the shattered city of Homs, Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait and Return To Homs, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2014, as well as The Mulberry House, which screened at DIFF in 2013.

The couple changed the company’s name from Proaction Film

after they discovered the word ‘proaction’ is a registered trademark in Europe. After a “brief shock”, Nyrabia and El Jeiroudi said the discovery made them think about how their lives and the world had changed since they set up the firm in 2002.

“We decided to take a step back and think about the spirit of our time, our position towards it, our new location, and the story of how we got here,” they said.

Kapadia blows whistle on Maradona doc

BY WILLIAM MULLALLY

In addition to taking the stage for an ‘In Conversation’ event here at DIFF, UK film-maker Asif Kapadia is in Dubai to speak to the subject of his latest documentary, Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona.

“Diego lives here in Dubai, so I’m here to see him,” he said at the DIFF event. “I’m interviewing him for the film.”

Kapadia hinted the film will be titled Diego, in keeping with his most recent documentary feature, Academy Award winner Amy (2015), about the late UK musician Amy Winehouse. “It’s still early days on Diego,” he said. “We will find out what the challenges are.”

Gareth Cattermole/Getty

Studio ZAT brings talent search to DIFF

Asif Kapadia in conversation at DIFF

The Maradona film was announced in early 2016 but the idea predates both Amy and Kapadia’s Senna (2010), about Formula One champion Ayrton Senna.

“I read a book about Diego Maradona years ago, and I had

only made fiction films at that point. I remember thinking, ‘I’d love to make a film about this guy.

There’s something about him.’”

While Maradona’s life has had many of the highs and lows of those of his previous subjects, to

Kapadia, the fact Maradona has lived to tell the tale is part of what makes his story different.

“He has always been a street fighter, and I suppose that’s the twist. Senna died young, Amy died young, and Diego is still going. You can’t knock him down.

When you knock him down, he bounces back. He keeps fighting.”

Having a living subject means he will have to approach the film differently. “That’s the twist in the tale. That’s what is potentially interesting about it. I have to come up with another solution to how to tell this story. It’s on a person that I’m working with, someone who’s still around. The proof will be in the pudding.”

ONE ON ONE ABDULLA AL KAABI, DIRECTOR, ONLY MEN GO TO THE GRAVE

Abdulla Al Kaabi talks to William Mullally about his debut feature, Only Men Go To The Grave, which receives its world premiere in the Muhr Emirati competition today

E

mirati film-maker Abdulla Al Kaabi may be premiering his first feature at DIFF but he is no stranger to the UAE’s film scene. His short film The Philosopher, starring Jean Reno, screened at the festival in 2010, while his second short, Koshk, won two prizes at Abu Dhabi Film Festival in 2014. His debut feature, Only Men Go To The Grave, tells the story a family coming together after their blind mother’s sudden death, and touches on themes including feminism and transgenderism.

What was the inspiration for this film?

One day, I was sitting next to a blind lady, and saw her reach for her bag in a way that was quite strange. She read something and I thought, ‘This woman is pretending to be blind.’

That stayed with me.

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I wanted to show the human condition of What were you looking to achieve through motherly love. the idea?

We have a saying — houses are full of secrets.

How did you finance the film?

A lot of people can relate to this partly because The film has been financed privately — it’s selfmost Arabs live double lives where they have a financed. That gave me the freedom to persona in the house that is completely shoot my story. If it were financed different from the persona in their through the conventional means of social settings among friends or the financing in the region, I’m not sure I outside world. They become experts in would have the same freedom. leading double lives.

I wanted to bring that across — in Do you expect to find the story, you have a woman distribution in the Middle who pretends to go blind to East? see who her children really I’m quite confident it will be are. I wanted to show that distributed after DIFF. I will family love is different tour the film around from the restrictions festivals, as it explores society places on us, Abdulla Al Kaabi hot topics and I believe it because it’s human.

will garner a lot of interest in the Western cinema scene. We have applied to other festivals and we were selected in a huge festival that I hope will be revealed in January.

Do you expect to be met with pushback in the region for the controversial topics it explores?

I don’t know. I’m tackling these issues, and I’m from here. Born and raised. This is my culture, and my heritage — I know who I’m talking to, and who I’m trying to portray these characters to. I think it comes across in the movie, and that’s why I think many people who saw it before its premiere really didn’t think it was offensive. That was important to me because you don’t want to make a movie to offend someone — you want to make a film to open a dialogue.

December 10, 2016 Screen International at Dubai 5

REVIEWS Reviews edited by Fionnuala Halligan finn.halligan@screendaily.com

104 Wrinkles Reviewed by Fionnuala Halligan

Blessed Benefit Reviewed by Wendy Ide Ahmad (Ahmad Thaher), a builder with a sideline in under-the-table activities, faces the impenetrable maze of the Jordanian legal system when one minor crime catches up with him. Ahmad argues to anyone within earshot that it is a misunderstanding and he fully intends to pay back the money he owes, just as soon as a little cashflow problem has been resolved. But the judge briskly seals his fate. “You were paid to build a wall. You didn’t build a wall. Three months.”

What unfolds over the course of this amiable but somewhat toothless film is the most benign prison drama imaginable. Director Mahmoud Al Massad favours small moments of gentle comedy and human connection rather than the gritty conflict we tend to associate with the genre. Meanwhile, his protagonist shambles through the film in wry bemusement, occasionally dispensing a nugget of simple, homespun wisdom.

Ahmad’s loveable-roguish tendencies are established from the outset, with a nice little scene in which a botched attempt to syphon electricity from the neighbourhood power cables plunges his apartment block into darkness. He lies effortlessly to his wife — not so much a character, more a checklist of nagging spouse clichés — to get out of visiting her parents.

He accepts his arrest, along with much that life throws at him, with a fatalistic shrug and a quizzically raised eyebrow. He is liked by almost everyone he meets, from the policeman who questions him about how to set up a Facebook account, to the chief of his overcrowded cell.

Grey haired, bespectacled and dentally challenged, Ahmad earns the nickname Old Man. But with it comes a respect that perhaps is lacking outside the prison walls.

Episodic in structure, intimate in focus, the film sometimes feels like a list of male-bonding moments. The prisoners sunbathe and banter in the yard; they dance in their cell to Arabic pop on television. And the closest thing to a dramatic climax — Ahmad’s encounter with the man who is, indirectly, responsible for his incarceration — is over in a brief scene.

Performances tend towards the broad, however Thaher, a non-professional actor whose real-life experiences inspired the film, brings an authenticity that goes beyond his alarming teeth.

6 Screen International at Dubai December 10, 2016

MUHR FEATURE Ger-Jor-Neth-Qat. 2016. 83mins Directors-screenplay Mahmoud Al Massad Production companies Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion, Jo Image, Dima Hamdallah, I See Film International sales Beta Cinema, beta@betacinema.com Producers Thanassis Karathanos, Dima Hamdallah, Julius Ponten, Mahmoud Al Massad Cinematography Giorgos Mihelis Editors Mahmoud Al Massad, Wouter van Luijn, Simon El Habre, Petar Markovic Main cast Ahmad Thaher, Maher Khammash, Odai Hijazi, Nadeem Remawi, Mahmoud Al Massad, Fayez Salman el Huwaiti, Omar el Natshe, Soliman el Hajaya, Nadim Mushahwar

104 Wrinkles is a very personal story by Lebanese documentarian Hady Zaccak, who appears throughout the film as his centenarian grandmother enquires endlessly: “Is that you, Hady?” Henriette Massaud Awaiss is losing her sight and her hearing, and she is often sad and emotional. “I’m dying, you understand?” she says to Hady, the “apple of her eye”. As she nears the age of 104, Henriette does not recognise her family and cannot remember her past, although she says she lives in it. 104 Wrinkles starts with a quote from Gabriel Garcia Marquez: “Life is not about what we have lived, but what we recall and how we recall it.”

Zaccak’s low-key, small-crew documentary is a closeup look at the ageing process. Often the film-maker will blur the edges of his frame, mimicking how Henriette may see her reduced world, focusing in on her aged features. Her skin is paper-thin, she has no mobility and needs to be spoon-fed, but it is still easy to see the spirited, tango-loving matriarch who grew up in Rio de Janeiro before moving to her father’s birthplace of Beirut.

What’s fascinating about 104 Wrinkles, which is comprised of photographic and audio recordings taken between 1992 and 2013, is how suddenly Henriette becomes diminished. At the age of 84, 92 and 97 she is still a mobile, spirited, lipstick-wearing granny. Now, she is surprised to hear how old she is: “I’m 102 and still alive?!” She does not remember Zaccak’s tiny crew or why they might be in her modest apartment at Jounieh Bay’s Green Beach, where she moved after a missile destroyed her house in 1983 — the year she also lost her husband, Antoine.

Slowly, Zaccak builds up to a picture of Henriette as a woman with a striking life story — she veers in and out of French, Portuguese and Arabic — and a portrait of advanced old age. “I’ve become so senile,” she says, at one point. Yet in Zaccak’s hands, this does not seem to be sad, just a fact of her very old life. This slight but captivating piece is augmented with battered old postcards and photographs; although these are specifically of Rio and Beirut in long-gone days, there is a universality here where the viewer clearly sees the passage of time and the unassailable finality of life.

MUHR FEATURE Leb. 2016. 83mins Director-screenplayproducer Hady Zaccak Production company ZAC Films International sales ZAC Films, info@ hadyzaccak.com Cinematography Muriel Aboulrouss Editors Hady Zaccak, Elias Chahine

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SCREENINGS, PAGE 12

The Cinema Travellers Reviewed by David D’Arcy

The Dark Wind Reviewed by Fionnuala Halligan The Dark Wind (Reseba) is based on the true story of a captured Kurdish Yazidi woman who was auctioned off into slavery by Isis in 2014 and rescued by her fiancé in Syria. Hussein Hassan’s sensitive handling of such tricky material has the undeniable ring of authenticity, having been shot in refugee camps in Iraqi Kurdistan with the participation of the Yazidi community.

Many documentaries, including recent IDFA winner Nowhere To Hide, have probed the disastrous events that have befallen Iraq since the departure of US troops and the subsequent rise of Isis in oil-rich Kurdish territories.

No drama, though, has dealt with the persecuted Yazidi minority who, in 2014, were murdered and displaced as Isis forces captured north-west Iraq and destroyed the holy grounds of this Kurdish religious minority.

The Dark Wind starts out in the religious capital of Sinjar with the engagement of beautiful Pero (Diman Zandi) and her older boyfriend Reko (a muted Rekesh Shehbaz), a security guard at a nearby oil plant operated by the Americans — the screenplay by Hassan and producer Mehmet Aktas makes it clear why there is such an interest in this area. Suddenly, the black-hooded figures of Isis arrive, murdering inhabitants, capturing girls and forcing the Yazidis to flee their home for Duhok in fear of genocide.

Pero is lost in the mayhem, captured and sold in a street market; Reko, who escapes to the camp, pursues her with a quiet determination. The rescue of the traumatised Pero, movingly played by Zandi, is not the end of her problems, however, and although the Yazidis have “forgiven” the 5,000-odd captured women of their tribe, not all of the community elders fall into line. “They abuse and rape our women and sell them back to us,” comments one tribesman. “They are more dead than alive.”

Hassa, whose previous films Narcissus Bloom (2006) and Herman (2009) have played at the Berlinale and Pusan respectively, and cinematographer Touraj Aslani favour wide shots of the Iraqi landscape and the sprawling camps. This is a rare opportunity to see this part of the world framed in a dramatic scenario, and The Dark Wind is quietly authentic throughout, with Hassan restricting even the music to let his sad love story express the predicament of this desolated community.

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MUHR FEATURE Iraq-Ger-Qat. 2016.

91 mins Director Hussein Hassan Production company Mitos Film International sales Mitos Film, info@mitosfilm.com Producer Mehmet Aktas Screenplay Hussein Hassan, Mehmet Aktas Cinematography Touraj Aslani Editor Ebrahim Saeedi Music Mustafa Biber Cast Rekesh Shehbaz, Diman Zandi, Maryam Boobani, Imad Lezgin

This lyrical documentary tells of the waning days of the tent cinemas that tour around remote villages of western India’s Maharashtra region. It is also an elegiac paean to the showmen who tote their rusted equipment to fairgrounds following the harvest season, as well as the rapt faces of their paying spectators.

The evocative first feature collaboration between documentarian Shirley Abraham and photographic artist Amit Madheshiya grew out of the latter’s awardwinning 2010 photo show and the pair’s academic research into alternative Indian film exhibition. As a result, The Cinema Travellers is much more rigorous, aesthetically and intellectually, than the majority of wellheeled exotic travelogues.

More through montages than linear storytelling, an ominous story eventually emerges from the unending crises that hit Sumedh Touring Pictures and Akshay Touring Pictures. Late-arriving film reels, bad weather, defective equipment, decaying nitrate film, rivalry, a burning tent in one case, and inroads into attendances made by increasingly available cable and digital television and bootlegged discs all take their toll.

The two outfits are radically different. One is run by a tough, business-minded former snack-seller who propels his sizeable crew from one post-harvest jatra (or religious fair) to another in a dodgy open-topped truck — chickens skitter out of its way — and who frets about declining ticket sales.

The other company consists of the boss (older and more laconic than the first proprietor) and his helper who, in a haunting sequence, locate their decrepit, overgrown truck-cum-projection booth in a jungle clearing.

Travelling cinemas peaked 70-odd years ago and this one looks like it’s been lost half that time.

Akshay’s and Sumedh’s vintage projectors — sometimes cobwebbed, over-oiled, or snagged with broken celluloid — are among the film’s stars. These cantankerous, juddering sources of enchantment (when functioning) deliver experiences that are near-sacred, judging by the patrons’ expressions at the start of each show.

Madheshiya, responsible for the cinematography, has an eye for atmospheric long shots while the melodic score helps give the film the quality of a requiem.

CINEMA OF THE WORLD Ind. 2016. 96mins Directors/producers/ editors Shirley Abraham, Amit Madheshiya Production company Cave Pictures International sales Submarine Entertainment, josh@submarine.com Cinematography Amit Madheshiya Music Laura Karpman, Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum

December 10, 2016 Screen International at Dubai 7

ARAB 2016

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STARS OF TOMORROW ARAB 2016

Mounia Akl Writer-director (Lebanon) Screen’s latest Arab Star of Tomorrow — our showcase of the region’s up-and-coming young talent — is Mounia Akl, whose Beirut, I Love You set the former architecture student on a path to Cannes and DIFF

I

‘‘

think I started watching Bergman films way too young,” jokes Lebanese film-maker Mounia Akl, the daughter of cinephile architects whose passion for cinema stoked her early ambition to become a director. Akl took a while to embrace her childhood dream, however, opting instead to study architecture at the prestigious Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA) on leaving high school.

“At 17, I was too scared to plunge directly into cinema.

It seemed too risky. I half regret that but at the same time going to architecture school was a wonderful experience. It taught me a lot of things, from work discipline to my understanding of space, and got me where I am today. What I learned there became an inherent part of my film-making,” says Akl. Alongside her official studies, Akl devoured books on film-making and attended cinema workshops when possible. It was at one of these events that she met future collaborator Cyril Aris, who was working at prestigious management consultant Booz & Co, but was also desperate to move into cinema.

The pair decided to collaborate on a joint short film, Beirut, I Love You (I Love You Not), in which they made a short visual letter to one another on a VHS camera. “It’s not a masterpiece, but it started everything for me. We posted it online for our friends to see, at a time when YouTube was not really what it is today. A week later the movie went viral,” recalls Akl.

8 Screen International at Dubai December 10, 2016

Following that success, Akl and Aris were approached by the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC) to create a spin-off. It became the hit series Beirut, I Love You, which spanned some 50 short episodes.

“It was scary because we didn’t think we had enough experience, but at the same time it turned out to be our film school. We started out with a group of four people and ended up with a crew of 40,” says Akl. Roughly 60% of that crew serviced her latest awardwinning short Submarine, which premiered at Cannes in May and is competing in DIFF’s Muhr Short Film Competition.

Inspired by the Beirut garbage crisis of 2015, Submarine is about a young woman who refuses to evacuate her home despite the health threat posed by mountains of rotting refuse. Akl made the work as part of her MFA in directing at Columbia University in New York. She will graduate in January.

She applied to the school in 2012 after completing her architecture degree and when the popularity of Beirut, I Love You was at its height. “I wanted to stop learning on the ground. I felt the need to actually study film,” says Akl. “I came in with a lot of experience but Columbia helped me understand who I was and wanted to be as a film-maker.” Beyond that, it has also connected Akl with a group of budding film-makers from across the globe who are now her close collaborators.

They include Spanish writer-director Clara Roquet — who co-wrote Submarine and is now collaborating on Akl’s first feature, about a family living in isolation from the world — and Georgian film-maker George Sikharulidze, who edited the short. Further cementing their relationship, Akl, Roquet and Sikharulidze have joined forces with Aris, who is also studying at Columbia, as well as Francisca Alegria and Ugla Hauks, to create the Breaking Wave Pictures film-making collective.

Akl’s priority right now is to complete the script for her next feature ahead of Cannes 2017, with the aim of shooting it in early 2018. The Cannes deadline is linked to the fact she is participating in the fourth edition of Directors’ Fortnight initiative The Factory Project, which next year will put the spotlight on emerging talent from Lebanon, having previously focused on young directors from Taipei, the Nordic territories and Chile.

As part of the programme — which pairs an emerging director with a more established talent to make a short film — Akl has been paired with Costa Rican director Ernesto ‘Neto’ Villalobos. Their joint short film I Can’t Hear You Well revolves around a man whose hermetic lifestyle is disrupted by the arrival of his estranged sister.

It will shoot in Lebanon early next year.

Melanie Goodfellow Contact Mounia Akl mounia.akl@gmail

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DUBAI FILM CONNECTION PROFILES

The Treasure

The Great Family

Dir Abdellah Taïa

Dir Eliane Raheb

Life = Cinematic Imperfections

Project’s countries of origin Morocco-France

Project’s countries of origin Lebanon-France

Dir Avo Kaprealian Project’s countries of origin Syria-Lebanon

Isabelle Huppert is set to star in The Treasure as a Morocco-born French woman who goes in search of hidden treasure in the Atlas Mountains, accompanied by her building’s superintendent. The project won the 2016 Sundance Institute Global Filmmaking award. It is directed by Abdellah Taïa, who says it is inspired by an incident from his childhood.

“In the 1980s, the husband of one of my sisters went to search for treasure in the Atlas Mountains.

We waited for his return [thinking], ‘Our lives are going to change, no poverty anymore,’” he recalls.

Throughout The Treasure the relationship between the woman and the Moroccan janitor grows increasingly ambiguous: she soon loses her bearings and replicates a few of the gestures that epitomised French colonialism, while the adventure revives memories of the janitor’s father, a soldier who died in Indochina for the French army.

Taïa became an iconic figure in Morocco when in 2006 he came out as the first openly gay Arab writer.

He made his directing debut nine years later with an adaptation of his own largely autobiographical book Salvation Army. The Treasure is his second film and offers a window on working-class Morocco, a population more often than not despised by the elite and dismissed as being steeped in conservatism, sorcery and superstition. “Janine, the film’s leading character, is on the same side as this forsaken population,” says Taïa.

The Treasure is in development with Les Films de Pierre, backer of Salvation Army and Robin Campillo’s Eastern Boys, which won the grand prix in the Horizons section at Venice last year and was nominated for three Césars in France. Also involved is Nabil Ayouch’s Ali n’ Productions.

Colin Brown

Born three years before the Lebanese Civil War began in 1975, Eliane Raheb has devoted her career to making documentaries that explore universal themes, against the backdrop of a 15-year war that claimed the lives of an estimated 250,000 people and displaced four times that number.

The Great Family is the story of Marlene, who was adopted by a French family in Toulouse in 1976 before learning years later that she had been discovered in a tree in the aftermath of the massacre of a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. “Marlene, who is almost my age, is investigating the traces of her identity in the ruins of Tal Al Zaatar, a camp that has been wiped out and was only kept alive 40 years later through the testimonies of its survivors and their trauma,” Raheb explains. “Marlene represents to me the drive to revisit the labyrinths of its buried history.”

One question that relates to Marlene herself — who are her real family members? — is one that might be solved during the filming, using DNA tests on the dozens of survivors who believe they could be relatives. The investigative documentary is being made under Raheb’s production banner Itar, with the support of the cinema collective Beirut DC, of which she is a founding member, and Montpellier-based Cosmographe Productions.

Best known for Sleepless Nights and This Is Lebanon, Raheb has been on what she describes as “a long internal journey to understand my political identity and my relationship with the ‘others’, defined as ‘enemies’ by the militias of my region during the war. My journey has led me to conclude that during these 15 years of war, despite all our divisions, we all shared the same fears and aspirations for a fair and stable life.”

Colin Brown

This project from Syrian-Armenian film-maker Avo Kaprealian follows directly on from his last feature, the documentary Houses Without Doors that premiered in the Berlinale’s Forum section in February.

From his balcony, the director’s small camera captured the growing sense of foreboding in an Armenian district of war-hit Aleppo. Kaprealian interwove his jittery images with extracts from classical films to illustrate the parallels between the Armenian genocide and the Syrian devastation today.

Now living in Beirut, and still shell-shocked, Life = Cinematic Imperfections is the director’s attempt to make sense of his new, displaced life and to give a voice to other young people across the Arabic-speaking world who have fled their homes.

“When you are alone, and the pain becomes bigger and bigger, and when you’re the one who loses everything, when you see all your friends lost here and there, living in a dark world of loneliness… these are the things that made me think about doing a film about the voice of the pain,” says Kaprealian. Each character in the film will hold their own camera and communicate through videos, sounds and monologues with both themselves and each other. Now in the writing/research phase, the project is being made through Beirut-based c.cam production (Guardians Of The Lost, This Little Father Obsession).

Still numbed by trauma, Kaprealian hopes to reawaken his love for cinema and start making contact with friends again. “I am still locked in the past, and so too are the characters of this film, my friends. We all are constantly thinking about life but the answers are far away. Only questions keep working.”

Colin Brown

The Treasure

The Great Family

Life = Cinematic Imperfections

Producers Marie-Ange Luciani, Hugues Charbonneau, Philippe Martin, Frantz Richard Production companies Les Films de Pierre, Les Films Pelléas, Ali n’ Productions Budget $1.6m Contact Marie-Ange Luciani marieange@lesfilmsdepierre.com

Producer Lara Abou Saifan Production companies

Producer Carole Abboud Production company c.cam production Budget $113,000 Finance raised to date $22,000 Contact Carole Abboud

www.screendaily.com

Itar Productions, Beirut DC, Cosmographe Productions (Fr) Budget $240,000 Finance raised to date $60,000 Contact Lara Abou Saifan lsaifan@gmail.com

c.camproduction@yahoo.com

December 10, 2016 Screen International at Dubai 9

SPOTLIGHT NORDIC FILMS

P

erhaps the Gulf and the fjords are not so far apart after all.

As Dubai Film Market (DFM) welcomes a dozen industry representatives from across the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden), industry experts see increasing potential for these two disparate places to work together in storytelling, co-production and distribution.

As Ayesha Chagla, manager of Dubai Film Market explains: “We have seen an increasing number of co-productions between the Arab and Nordic countries in the past couple of years. It’s great that Arab film-makers are making connections further afield than the more common co-productions with France and Germany.

“Having a Nordic delegation at the DFM will give Arab film-makers the opportunity to further connect with this region and hopefully we will see more films being realised if an increasing number of Arab film-makers know about the potential funding opportunities they can access by having Nordic co-producers.”

Laufey Gudjonsdottir, director of the Icelandic Film Centre, is heading to the region for the first time and hopes her trip will open up further collaboration, particularly with co-productions. She says Iceland’s film industry “is very dynamic and through co-productions it has a long and solid tradition of collaboration on the creative side with many nationalities and cultures”.

One recent Icelandic co-production with the Middle East is Najwa Najjar’s Palestine-set psychological thriller Eyes Of A Thief, which screened at DIFF in 2014.

Films crossing borders can better reflect the multicultural societies we live in, Chagla adds. “There is a greater number of people of Arab origin who live in the Nordic countries and I think both regions could benefit from having more exchanges, especially when it comes to the creative industries.”

Noemi Ferrer Schwenk, head of international at the Danish Film Institute, says she first saw creative exchange take place in a number of documentaries that were made with Denmark, and that now “we have had a number of fiction films picking up on themes related to the Middle East… there are a lot of Nordic film-makers with backgrounds from the Middle East”. DFI supported Omar Shargawi’s 2015 drama Al Medina as a co-production between Jordan and Denmark, as well as Tarik Saleh’s new thriller The Nile Hilton Incident, which is a majority Swedish production set in Egypt.

DIFF’s co-production market, Dubai Film Connection, has one Nordic co-

Pyromaniac

Fire and

ice

A Nordic delegation attends DIFF for the first time to explore co-production and distribution opportunities. Wendy Mitchell reports on a burst of creative energy as the Arab diaspora makes its voice heard from across the fjords production in its 2016 line-up of 10 projects. Omar Shargawi’s Western Arabs, a fiction-documentary hybrid about cultural identity and integration, is being set up as a Denmark, Egypt and Palestine co-production.

Danish producer Eva Jakobsen of coproduction specialist Snowglobe says: “We are experiencing a new generation of talent from second and third-generation immigrants, who are offering a new point of view to the Danish storytelling tradition. I have the impression there is a natural gravitation towards collaborations between the Nordic countries and the Middle East.”

‘There’s a natural gravitation towards collaborations between Nordic countries and the Middle East’ Eva Jakobsen, Snowglobe

Jehovah’s Witness mother and a Muslim father who was formerly a member of a notorious clan in Lebanon. A film like Maria’s Voice points to the natural evoluStories without borders tion of stories told across the regions, Another Danish producer, Thomas Heu- Heurlin says. “With Denmark as an everrlin of Impact, has worked on sevmore multicultural nation, it is imporeral documentaries with ties tant to reflect that in our film-making.” to the Middle East, includThe visit to Dubai marks his first ing his forthcoming protrip to a film event in the region. “I duction Maria’s Voice with am looking forward to meeting the Iraq-born director broadcasters, film institutes, direcRania M Tawfik. He tors and fellow producers. There is a hopes the trip to lot of unreleased potential Dubai will lead to in storytelling from the further financing region,” Heurlin says. for the project, Nicolai Korsgaard, which is about a sales manager at young singer Nordic powerhouse raised in DenTrustNordisk, is mark with a Wolf And Sheep making his first

10 Screen International at Dubai December 10, 2016

trip to Dubai after several visits to the now-defunct Abu Dhabi Film Festival.

He sees room for Nordic films to gain more traction in the Middle Eastern market. “[Buyers in the Middle East] usually look for content that’s English language, and that’s a problem with a sales company that sells Nordic-language films,” Korsgaard explains. “We have 20 movies every year of which I sell maybe one, two or three to the Middle East.”

Korsgaard is open to representing more Middle Eastern co-productions that still have a Nordic touch — TrustNordisk previously sold 2012’s Bekas, a Kurdish comedy-drama produced between Sweden, Finland and Iraq.

There are some bright spots for films that are dubbed — usually action thrillers or family films. “The Wave, for example, was a huge hit for us because it was dubbed,” Korsgaard says of the Norwegian disaster film.

Recognised directors such as Lars von Trier and Susanne Bier also fare well in the region — even von Trier’s racy Nymphomaniac was released theatrically in places such as Beirut. Korsgaard hopes his trip to Dubai could lead to Middle Eastern deals on some new titles, including von Trier’s forthcoming Englishlanguage serial-killer story The House That Jack Built.

www.screendaily.com

SCREENING HERE NORDIC FEATURES AT DIFF 2016

The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Maki (Fin-Ger-Swe) Dir Juho Kuosmanen This Un Certain Regard winner at Cannes is a debut feature with a delicate touch. It tells the story of a Finnish boxer who is more concerned with his new girlfriend than a championship bout.

Contact Les Films du Losange b.vincent@filmsdulosange.fr

The Nile Hilton Incident

Sami Blood

Sami Blood (Swe-Nor-Den) Dir Amanda Kernell

A Maid For Each (Leb-Fr-Nor-UAE) Dir Maher Abi Samra A 67-minute creative documentary by Lebanese film-maker Maher Abi Samra, A Maid For Each (Makhdoumin) examines the lives of Asian and African women employed as domestic workers in Beirut.

Amanda Kernell’s moving feature debut — inspired by her grandmother’s story — is about a teenage girl of Sami extraction in the 1930s who wants to leave behind her family roots and assimilate into Swedish society.

Contact LevelK Film Sales tine.klint@levelk.dk

Contact Orjouane Productions orjouaneproductions@gmail.com

A Memory In Khaki (Fin-Fr-Jor-Leb-Syr) Dir Alfoz Tanjour

Bekas

Gianluca Chakra, managing partner of Dubai-based distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment, says his company has worked on some Nordic productions including Joseph Fares’ Zozo (2005) and Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg’s Kon-Tiki (2012).

He says Zozo, about a boy who makes his way out of war-torn Lebanon to live with his grandparents in Sweden, addresses “a subject that touched many Lebanese across the Middle East and also had a healthy theatrical run in Lebanon”. Kon-Tiki fared well because it “was shot in English and its subject matter and genre made it commercially viable”.

Chakra admits that most Nordic films do not resonate with audiences in the Middle East — “The cultures are way too different” — but says some films will break through, especially if they are nominated for major awards, which can trigger TV sales as well as limited theatrical releases. He has one idea that could open up audiences for Nordic content and coproductions: Arabic remakes of popular Nordic TV shows such as The Killing or The Bridge. “Maybe that could be a step forward into bringing in the Nordic culture and co-productions,” he suggests.

Some Nordic audiences already crave stories from the Middle East. Mouhamad Keblawi, general manager and artistic director of the seven-year-old

www.screendaily.com

‘The Wave was a huge hit for us because it was dubbed’ Nicolai Korsgaard, TrustNordisk

Malmo Arab Film Festival in Sweden — the largest Arab-focused festival outside of the Arab world — comes to Dubai every year and sees opportunities growing at his festival and beyond.

Two years ago, the festival established a platform for collaboration and co-productions between the Nordic countries and the Arab world. The MAFF Market Forum now welcomes up to 300 participants from 30 countries while distributing development awards to Swedish-Arabic co-productions in collaboration with the Swedish Film Institute and Film i Skane.

The diverse nature of Malmo’s population is one reason the festival’s audience is growing, says Keblawi. “The interest and curiosity in Arab films is often based on both a desire to understand many of the new Swedes who arrived from Arab countries in recent years, as well as an insight into the great quality and s nuances found in Arab cinema.” ■

This world-premiere non-fiction feature explores five decades of oppression and revolution in Syria, through the eyes of the director and others.

The War Show

Contact Alfouz Tanjour alfouzt@yahoo.com Louai Haffar louai75@hotmail.com

The War Show (Den-Fin-Syr) Dirs Obaidah Zytoon, Andreas Dalsgaard

The Oath (Ice)

Syrian Radio host Obaidah Zytoon documents herself and her friends during the Arab Spring. She co-directs with Danish film-maker Andreas Dalsgaard, whose credits include The Human Scale.

Dir Baltasar Kormakur After tackling Everest, Baltasar Kormakur returns to his native Iceland to direct and star in this thriller about a surgeon who wants to save his daughter from her criminal boyfriend.

Contact DR TV International Sales drsales@dr.dk

Contact XYZ Films info@xyzfilms.com

Wolf And Sheep

Pyromaniac (Nor)

(Den-Fr-Swe-Afg) Dir Shahrbanoo Sadat

Dir Erik Skjoldbjaerg Norwegian-writer director Erik Skjoldbjaerg’s sixth feature is an adaptation of acclaimed novel Before I Burn by Gaute Heivoll, based on the true story of a man who committed a series of arson attacks in a Norwegian village in 1978.

Contact TrustNordisk info@ trustnordisk.com

The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Maki

Shahrbanoo Sadat’s feature debut, which won a prize in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in May, looks at the lives of young people in a re m o te Af g h a n i s t a n mountain village.

Contact Alpha Violet virginie@alphaviolet. com

December 10, 2016 Screen International at Dubai 11

SCREENINGS Edited by Paul Lindsell

» Screening times and venues are

correct at the time of going to press but subject to alteration.

paullindsell@gmail.com

08:00 THE PREACHER (MAWLANA)

(Egypt) Cedars Art Production (Sabbah Brothers). 130mins.

Drama. Dir: Magdy Ahmed Ali. Cast: Amr Saad, Dorra, Ahmed Magdy, Bayoumi Fouad, Reham Haggag.

Sheikh Hatem stands out in a society influenced by fundamentalist views.

From leading the prayers at a government mosque to becoming a popular TV celebrity issuing fatwas that deviate from the traditional religious rhetoric, he has amassed millions of fans. His responses on TV reveal a witty and eloquent person against a backdrop of darkness, where power struggles rage. Hatem finds himself caught in a complex web of conflict — his personal life unravels and he tries to stay above the politics of institutions. When he is caught up in a delicate matter, he has to find a way to make a dent in the climate of hypocrisy and fear.

Muhr Feature Madinat Arena Press

11:00 LAKE BAIKAL: THE SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY OF EXTREME WATER — EPISODE 1: WINTER SPIRIT

FESTIVAL 14:00 LA LA LAND

(US) Lionsgate. 127mins.

Musical, romance.

Dir: Damien Chazelle.

Cast: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, Finn Wittrock.

A tribute to the golden age of the American musical. The story of two dreamers struggling to make ends meet, as they pursue their passions in a city famous for destroying all hope and

(Russia, US) 7mins.

Non-fiction, virtual reality.

Dir: Georgy Molodtsov, Michael Owen.

Five brief virtual-reality scenes introduce viewers to the icy winter landscape around Lake Baikal in Siberia.

setting into motion a series of entirely unexpected events.

DIFFerent Reality 03 The du VR Cinema by Samsung Public

DEFROST

ROCK DOG

(China, US) Gulf Film.

88mins. Animation, comedy, family, music.

Dir: Ash Brannon.

When a radio falls from the sky into the paws of a wide-eyed Tibetan Mastiff, he leaves home to fulfil his dream of becoming a musician,

Cinema for Children Madinat Arena GALA

13:00

(US) Circle VR. 5mins.

Sci-fi, virtual reality.

Dir: Randal Kleiser.

Cast: Bruce Davison, Harry Hamlin, Carl Weathers.

After being cryogenically frozen for 30 years, Joan Garrison awakens to meet her aged family.

DIFFerent Reality 04 The du VR Cinema by Samsung Public

12 Screen International at Dubai December 10, 2016

breaking hearts. Mia, an aspiring actress, serves lattés to movie stars in between auditions.

Sebastian, an ardent jazz musician, scrapes by playing piano in dingy bars. As success is in sight for both of them, they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair.

Cinema of the World Madinat Arena Gala

14:00 LA LA LAND See box, above

14:15 A DAY FOR WOMEN (YOM LEL SETAT)

(Egypt) 110mins. Drama.

Dir: Kamla Abu Zekry.

Cast: Elham Shahin, Nelly Karim, Mahmoud Hemida, Farouk Al Fishawy, Ahmad Al Fishawy, Nahed El Sebai, Hala Sedqi, Eyad Nassar, Ahmed Dawood.

A new swimming pool opens in a Cairo district, with the announcement that Sundays will be only

for females. This causes ripples throughout the local community, while three women — Shamiya, Azza, and Lula — assess their varying lives.

Arabian Nights Vox 17 Public

14:30 ROBBY & TOBY’S FANTASTIC VOYAGER (ROBBI, TOBBI UND DAS FLIEWATUUT)

(Germany, Belgium) ARRI Worldsales. 105mins.

Adventure, family. Dir: Wolfgang Groos. Cast: Sam Riley, Alexandra Maria Lara, Arsseni Bultmann.

Nobody comes up with inventions like 11-yearold Tobby Findeisen. One day the little robot Robby lands at his feet after being separated from his parents when his spaceship crashed. To help in their search for Robbi’s parents, the friends invent a vehicle that can fly, swim and drive. In the meantime, the unscrupulous Sir Joshua and his super agents Brad Bloodbath and Sharon Silencer are on the robot’s tail, wanting to use him for their own evil purposes.

But even the smartest super agents should not underestimate what best friends can accomplish together.

Cinema for Children Souk Madinat Theatre Public

14:45 TRAMONTANE (RABIH)

(Lebanon, Qatar, UAE, France) The Bureau Sales.

105mins. Drama. Dir: Vatche Boulghourjian.

Cast: Michel Adabachi, Toufic Barakat, Barakat Jabbour, Julia Kassar.

The life of a young blind man in Lebanon unravels when he tries to apply for a passport and discovers his identification card is forged.

Muhr Feature Vox 03 Public

15:00 APPRENTICE

(Singapore, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Qatar) Luxbox. 96mins.

Drama. Dir: Junfeng Boo. Cast: Wan Hanafi Su, Mastura Ahmad, Fir Rahman.

Aiman, a 28-year-old Malay correctional officer who recently transferred to the territory’s top prison, lives with his older

sister Suhaila. At his new workplace, Aiman is acquainted with the prison’s long-serving chief executioner. When Rahim’s assistant quits, he asks Aiman to become his apprentice.

Cinema of the World Vox 06 Public

HISSEIN HABRE, A CHADIAN TRAGEDY (HISSEIN HABRE, UNE TRAGEDIE TCHADIENNE)

(Chad, France, Senegal) Doc & Film International.

82mins. Non-fiction.

Dir: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun. Cast: Clement Abaifouta.

In 2013, former Chadian dictator Hissein Habre’s arrest in Senegal marked the end of a long struggle for the survivors of his regime. Director MahamatSaleh Haroun meets the survivors of this tragedy, who still bear the scars of the horror on their flesh and in their souls.

Cinema of the World Vox 13 Public

OBLIVIUS

(China) TCL Communication — Alcatel. 3mins. Music, www.screendaily.com

FURTHER DIFF COVERAGE, SEE SCREENDAILY.COM

non-fiction, virtual reality.

Dir: Romain Levices.

Cast: Kevin Pollak, Xi Ning.

In the underworld, where time is precious, two souls meet. They dance to love and death. With love, they will find each other again.

DIFFerent Reality 05 The du VR Cinema by Samsung PUBLIC

15:15 THE CHALLENGE

(France, Italy) Slingshot films. 70mins. Non-fiction.

Dir: Yuri Ancarani.

Falconry has a history that stretches back more than 40 centuries and it continues undiminished in contemporary Arab culture. Three years of observing this form of hunting in the field have made it possible to capture the spirit of a tradition that today allows its practitioners to keep a close rapport with the desert, despite their predominantly urban lifestyle.

Arabian Nights Vox 05 Public

LISA

(UAE) 73mins. Comedy, drama. Dir: Ahmed Zain.

Cast: Ayman Khadim, Nasser Al Dhanhani, Ali Al Shehhi, Laura.

Lisa is a student from the UK who studies at New York University in Abu Dhabi. As she prepares for her senior project, her professor suggests that she films a documentary about an Emirati family in Al Ain. During the course of her work, she experiences the kindness and generosity of Emirati society through the family.

Muhr Emirati Vox 14 Public

15:30 TERRA FIRMA (LA TERRE FERME)

(France, Qatar, UAE) 71mins. Non-fiction, creative documentary.

Dir: Laurent Ait Benalla.

In a small commercial harbour in southern France, two sailors watch over ferries abandoned by their Moroccan owners.

Young Syrians stop by to load their cattle. African

traders prepare a convoy of second-hand vehicles. Men, machines and animals cross this space that opens out to the sea.

Muhr Feature Vox 04 Public

17:00 ARE YOU LISTENING?: AMAZON & CONGO

(Brazil, Congo) StoryUP Studios. 9mins. Nonfiction, virtual reality.

Dir: Sarah Hill.

Step into the lives of the Virunga park rangers in eastern Congo and the Munduruku tribe in the Amazon rainforest to see how a lack of affordable power is threatening lives and sacred lands.

DIFFerent Reality 01 The du VR Cinema by Samsung Public

18:00 THE PREACHER (MAWLANA)

(Egypt) Cedars Art Production (Sabbah Brothers). 130mins.

Drama. Dir: Magdy Ahmed Ali. Cast: Amr Saad, Dorra, Ahmed

FESTIVAL 18:15 LITTLE SPARTA

(UAE) Al Kalema Productions. 70mins.

Historical. Dir: Mansoor Alyabhouni Aldhaheri.

The film derives its name from a comment that referred to the UAE as ‘Little Sparta’ — as the Magdy, Bayoumi Fouad, Reham Haggag.

Sheikh Hatem stands out in a society influenced by fundamentalist views.

From leading the prayers at a government mosque to becoming a TV celebrity issuing fatwas that deviate from the traditional religious rhetoric, he has amassed millions of fans.

Muhr Feature Madinat Arena Gala/Jury

SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS

FESTIVAL 18:15 JACKIE

(Chile, US) Wild Bunch.

95mins. Biography, drama. Dir: Pablo Larrain. Cast: Natalie

www.screendaily.com

Portman, John Hurt, Peter Sarsgaard.

Following the assassination of President John F Kennedy, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy

fights through grief to regain her faith, console her children and define her husband’s legacy.

Cinema of the World Vox 01 Public

(US) 97mins. Adventure, family. Dir: Philippa Lowthorpe. Cast: Kelly Macdonald, Andrew Scott, Jessica Hynes, Bobby McCulloch, Orla Hill.

Four children — the Swallows — are on holiday in the UK’s Lake District.

They sail to an island and start a war with a group of rival children — the Amazons. In the meantime, a mysterious man accuses them of a crime they did not commit.

Cinema for Children Vox 14 Public

UAE’s armed forces have played an active role in the military operations in the war against Isis. Emirati writer and director Mansoor Alyabhouni Aldhaheri documents its history in this epic, which is based on the idea that countries

are not measured by their size or area but rather by the strength of their peoples. The film traverses from one historical era to another — from ancient Sparta to contemporary UAE.

SWEAT RAIN

102mins. Comedy, drama. Dir: Jan Hrebejk.

Cast: Zuzana Maurery, Peter Bebjak, Eva Bandor.

In 1983 a new teacher, Maria Drazdechova, arrives at a suburban Bratislava school and turns life upside-down for the students and their parents.

(Morocco) 126mins.

Drama. Dir: Hakim Belabbes. Cast: Ayoub Khalfaoui, Fatima Ezzahra Bennasser, Amine Ennaji.

M’Barek fights to hold on to his land. Ida, his wife, struggles to carry her husband’s burden. Ayoub grazes his father’s sheep and talks to the fairies.

And his grandfather incessantly calls out his wife’s name: Rahma.

Muhr Feature Vox 03 Public

18:15 JACKIE See box, left

LITTLE SPARTA See box, above

18:30 48 HOUR FILM PROJECT

60mins. Dir: Events during DIFF.

Muhr Emirati Vox 17 Public

Cinema of the World Vox 06 Public

WULU

(France, Senegal) Indie Sales. 95mins. Drama, thriller. Dir: Daouda Coulibaly. Cast: Ibrahim Koma, Inna Modja, Ismail N’Diaye.

A young man begins trafficking cocaine and is quickly embroiled in a drugs ring.

Cinema of the World Vox 05 Public

18:45

The Beach Public

A MAID FOR EACH (MAKHDOUMIN)

THE TEACHER (UCITELKA)

(Lebanon, France, Norway, UAE) Doc & Film International.

(Czech Republic, Slovak Republic) LevelK.

December 10, 2016 Screen International at Dubai 13

»

SCREENINGS

FESTIVAL 19:00 THE EAGLE HUNTRESS

(US) Celluloid Dreams.

87mins. Creative documentary, teens.

Dir: Otto Bell. Cast: Aisholpan Nurgaiv, Nurgaiv Rys, Alma Dalaykhan.

67mins. Creative documentary. Dir: Maher Abi Samra.

In Lebanon, domestic work is a big business.

Workers are classified by nationality and ethnicity and their wages vary depending on their classification. In this complex industry, the relationship is quite simple: the Lebanese employer is the master and the domestic worker is a commodity. Zein owns an agency that recruits and supplies domestic workers in Beirut. He arranges for Asian and African women to work in Lebanese households and assists his clients to choose their ‘mail-order’ workers. With the justice, police and marketing systems on his side, Zein decides to open his agency to us.

Muhr Feature Vox 04 Public

GAZA SURF CLUB

(Germany) Magnetfilm.

87mins. Non-fiction, sport. Dir: Philip Gnadt, Mickey Yamine. Cast: Sabah Abu Ghanem,

The story of Aisholpan, a 13-year-old girl, as she trains to become the first female in 12 generations of her Kazakh family to become an eagle hunter.

Cinema of the World Souk Madinat Theatre Public

Mohammed Abu Jayab, Ibrahim Arafat.

Wedged between Israel and Egypt and isolated from the rest of the world, very little enters Gaza and even less leaves it. Trapped in the “world’s largest openair prison” and ruled by war, a new generation is drawn to the beaches.

Sick of occupation and political gridlock, they find their own personal freedom in the waves of the Mediterranean — they are the surfers of Gaza.

present-day development paradigm.

families against each other for his own profit.

DIFFerent Reality 02 The du VR Cinema by Samsung Public

The Beach The Beach Public

19:30 A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (PER UN PUGNO DI DOLLARI)

(Germany, Italy, Spain) 100mins. Action, drama, western. Dir: Sergio Leone. Cast: Clint Eastwood, Marianne Koch, Gian Maria Volonte.

A lone cowboy pits duelling

21:30 THE BIRTH OF A NATION

(US) 120mins. Biography, drama. Dir: Nate Parker.

Cast: Aunjanue Ellis, Nate Parker, Penelope Ann Miller, Armie Hammer, Dwight Henry, Aja Naomi King.

Follows Nat Turner, a literate slave and preacher, whose owner accepts an

offer to use Nat’s preaching to subdue unruly slaves.

As Nat witnesses countless atrocities — against himself and his fellow slaves — he orchestrates an uprising in the hope of leading his people to freedom.

Comedy, drama. Dir: Yousry Nasrallah. Cast: Laila Eloui, Menna Shalabi, Bassem Samra.

A family in a small Egyptian village prepares for a big wedding celebration.

Cinema of the World Vox 01 Public

Arabian Nights Vox 17 Public

BROOKS, MEADOWS AND LOVELY FACES (AL MA’ WAL KHODRA WAL WAJH AL HASSAN)

THE FOUNDER

(Egypt) Pyramide International. 110mins.

MUHR SHORT FILM PACKAGE

See box, below

21:45

Arabian Nights Vox 13 Public

19:00 THE EAGLE HUNTRESS See box, above

WHEN ALL LAND IS LOST, WILL WE EAT COAL?

(India) 7mins. Nonfiction, virtual reality.

Dir: Faiza Ahmad Khan.

Decades of mining has ravaged Korba, a small district in central India. Its air and water are severely contaminated and the people’s lives have been blighted. This film is a telling commentary on the

14 Screen International at Dubai December 10, 2016

FESTIVAL 21:30 THE FOUNDER

(US) Filmnation Entertainment (NYC). 116mins. Biography, drama, historical. Dir: John Lee Hancock.

Cast: Michael Keaton, Patrick

Wilson, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch, Laura Dern.

The true story of how Ray Kroc, a salesman in 1950s Illinois, met Mac and Dick McDonald, who were running a burger operation

in southern California. Kroc was impressed by the brothers’ speedy system of making the food and set out to create a billion-dollar empire.

Cinema of the World Madinat Arena Gala

www.screendaily.com

DIFF EDITORIAL OFFICE PRESS AND PUBLICITY OFFICE, MADINAT JUMEIRAH CONFERENCE CENTRE DIFF dailies editor and Asia editor Liz Shackleton, lizshackleton@gmail.com Reporter Melanie Goodfellow, melanie. goodfellow@btinternet.com Reviews editor Fionnuala Halligan, finn.halligan@screendaily.com Contributor Colin Brown, colinbrown1@earthlink.net Features editor Louise Tutt, tuttlouise@gmail.com Group head of production and art Mark Mowbray, mark. mowbray@screendaily.com

FESTIVAL 22:00 BEZNESS AS USUAL

(Netherlands) Syndicado. 92mins.

Non-fiction. Dir: Alex Pitstra. Cast: Alex Pitstra, Mohsen Ben Hassen, Anneke Pitstra.

Dutch film-maker Alex Pitstra was 25 years old when he received a letter from his Tunisian father, whom he had not seen since early childhood. His father wanted to meet Short films in Muhr Short competition, various directors.

Ayny; The Parrot; Five Boys And A Wheel; One Week, Two Days; A Man Returned.

Muhr Short 01 Vox 03 Public

THE WAR SHOW

(Denmark, Finland, Syria) 104mins. Nonfiction. Dir: Obaidah Zytoon, Andreas Dalsgaard. Cast: Amal, Houssam, Lulu, Hisham.

A Syrian radio DJ shares her experiences in the aftermath of the 2011 Arab Spring.

Arabian Nights Vox 13 Public

22:00 BEZNESS AS USUAL See box, above

him. In the 10 years that follow, Alex tries to build a relationship with his new family in Tunisia. He convinces his half-sister to do the same. Alex has to cope with intercultural misunderstandings and failed expectations between a father and son, and to address the relationship with his Dutch mother.

Arabian Nights Vox 06 Public

Non-fiction. Dir: Eliane Raheb. Cast: Haykal Mikhael.

Al Shambouk, a high peak located in Akkar, Lebanon, is the homeland of Haykal, a Christian farmer. In this complex geographical spot just a few kilometres away from Syria, Haykal decided to build a farm and a restaurant. Each day, he deals with the dust from the neighbouring quarries, the agricultural stagnation, as well as the sectarian tensions and political and economic repercussions of the Syrian crisis. And yet, Haykal feels he must remain in his land now more than ever.

Muhr Feature Vox 14 Public

22:15

THOSE WHO REMAIN (MAYYEL YA GHZAYYEL)

FOREIGN BODY (JASSAD GHARIB)

(Lebanon, UAE) 95mins.

(France, Tunisia) Urban

www.screendaily.com

Distribution International.

92mins. Drama. Dir: Raja Amari. Cast: Hiam Abbass, Salim Kechiouche, Sarra Hannachi.

Like hundreds of illegal immigrants before her, Samia lands on European shores. Haunted by the fear of being followed by her extremist brother, whom she has denounced to the authorities, Samia first finds refuge at the home of Imed, an acquaintance from her village, before striking up

a relationship with a rich widow.

Muhr Feature Vox 04 Public

PYROMANIAC (PYROMANEN)

(Norway) 96mins.

Drama. Dir: Erik Skjoldbjaerg. Cast: Trond Hjort Nilsen, Per Frisch, Liv Bernhoft Osa, Henrik Rafaelsen.

A pyromaniac ignites his first fire in a peaceful village. More break out in the weeks to come,

spreading fear in the small community. An inferno lurks under the surface as a policeman uncovers the truth about the identity of the criminal. This film is an intimate portrait of the pyromaniac and the emergency services.

Cinema of the World Vox 05 Feature

22:30 ONLY MEN GO TO THE GRAVE (AL-RIJAL FAQAT END AL-DAFN) See box, below

Sub editors Paul Lindsell, Adam Richmond, Richard Young Publishing director Nadia Romdhani, nadia. romdhani@screendaily.com, +44 7540 100 315 Senior sales manager Scott Benfold, scott.benfold@ screendaily.com, +44 7765 257 260 Sales executives Pierre-Louis Manes, pierre-louis.manes@ screendaily.com Gunter Zerbich, gunter. zerbich@screendaily.com Ingrid Hammond, ingridhammond@mac.com Production manager Jonathon Cooke, jonathon. cooke@mb-insight.com Group commercial director, MBI Alison Pitchford, alison. pitchford@mb-insight.com Chief executive, MBI Conor Dignam Printer Atlas Group, Street 26, Al Quoz 4, PO Box 14833, Dubai, +971 4 340 9895, admin@atlasgroupme.com

Screen International London 1st floor unit F2/G, Zetland House, 5-25 Scrutton Street, London EC2A 4HJ Tel: +44 20 3033 4267 Subscription enquiries Tel: +44 (0) 330 333 9414, help@subscribe.screendaily. com

FESTIVAL 22:30 ONLY MEN GO TO THE GRAVE (AL-RIJAL FAQAT END AL-DAFN)

(UAE, Iran) 80mins.

Drama. Dir: Abdulla Al

Kaabi. Cast: Saleema Yaqoub, Hebe Sabah, Abdelreza Nasari.

When a blind mother dies unexpectedly, her family tries to uncover

her secret past during the traditional three-day funeral.

in association with Chime Consulting

Muhr Emirati Souk Madinat Theatre Public

December 10, 2016 Screen International at Dubai 15

‫شاهد اليوم‬

‫السبت ‪ 10‬ديسمرب‬

‫املهر اإلماراتي‬

‫الرجال فقط عند الدفن‬ ‫‪22:30‬‬

‫سبارتا الصغرية‬

‫سوق املدينة‬

‫بعد انتهاء الحرب العراقية‪ ،‬في العام ‪ ،1988‬تر ّحب أم عمياء ببناتها لتكش��ف لهن عن س�� ٍر دفين‪،‬‬ ‫ولكنها تلقى حتفها قبل أن تتمكّن من ذلك‪ .‬يتوافد الز ّوار لتعزية األسرة‪ ،‬ومع كل زائ ٍر جديد تنصدم‬ ‫البنات بمدى جهلهن بحياة أمهن وتاريخها‪ .‬في زحمة انشغال الجميع في كشف النقاب عن الس ّر‪،‬‬ ‫تطرق بابهن امرأة ته ّز كيان البنات عند اكتشافهن بأن الذي جمع بينها وبين أمهن كان العشق‪.‬‬

‫‪18:15‬‬

‫مول اإلمارات‪ ،‬فوكس ‪17‬‬

‫يس��تمد هذا الفيلم غير الروائي الطويل اس��مه من مقولة أطلقها كب��ار جنراالت التحالف‬ ‫الدول��ي‪ ،‬على دولة اإلمارات العربي��ة المتحدة‪ ،‬كناي ًة عما تمثله قواتها المس��لحة من قوة‬ ‫فاعلة ومؤثرة في الحرب على «داعش»‪ .‬ويؤكد الفيلم أن الدول ليست بحجمها ومساحتها‪،‬‬ ‫بل بعزيمة رجالها‪ ،‬وبإيمانهم العميق بأنه بالمثابرة واالجتهاد تعلو األمم‪.‬‬

‫املهر القصري‬ ‫‪23:23-23:06‬‬

‫مول اإلمارات‪ ،‬فوكس ‪3‬‬

‫يبدأ اليوم السبت «مهرجان دبي السينمائي الدولي» بعروض مسابقة «المهر القصير» التي تعد‬ ‫منصة لتقديم أفضل ما تنتجه السينما العربية‪ ،‬واكتشاف ورعاية المواهب من مخرجين وممثلين‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ومنتجين وكتاب س��ينمائيين‪ ،‬ومنبرا ً لج��ذب المخرجين المخضرمين وال ُج��دد‪ ،‬حيث ت ُتاح أمام‬ ‫األعمال القصيرة الفائزة فرصة عرضها وترشّ حها لجوائز أوسكار أفضل فيلم قصير للعام ‪.2017‬‬

‫املهر الطويل‬

‫سينما األطفال‬

‫الببغاء‬

‫رجل يعود‬

‫أسبوع ويومني‬

‫جلسات سوق دبي السينمائي احلوارية‬

‫حوار مع‬

‫شرييل‬ ‫بون آيزاك‬ ‫موالنا‬

‫روك دوغ (ثالثي األبعاد)‬

‫‪18:00‬‬

‫‪11:00‬‬

‫مدرج املدينة‬

‫مدرج املدينة‬ ‫يرصد الفيلم مغامرات كلب حراس��ة متفائل‪،‬‬ ‫اس��مه بودي تتغيّر حياته عندما يسقط راديو‬ ‫من الس��ماء‪ ،‬ويس��تمع ألغنية من أس��طورة‬ ‫الروك؛ القطة البريطانية أنغوس س��كاترغود‪،‬‬ ‫فيفض��ل التو ّجه إلى المدين��ة الكبيرة‪ ،‬طامحاً‬ ‫في المشاركة في فرقة لموسيقى الروك‪ .‬هناك‬ ‫يكتشف وصولَه خص ُم والده‪ ،‬الذي يبيّت نوايا‬ ‫شنيعة لخراف القرية الشهية‪.‬‬

‫نشرة يومية تصدر باللغة العربية خالل فعاليات الدورة‬ ‫الـ ‪ 13‬من «مهرجان دبي السينمائي الدولي»‬ ‫رئيس التحرير‬

‫بشار إبراهيم‬

‫‪bashar62@gmail.com‬‬ ‫‪ 10‬ديسمرب ‪2016‬‬

‫‪12/10/16 12:53 AM‬‬

‫بالعـــربية‬

‫يج��د الش��يخ حات��م نفس��ه في ش��بكة من‬ ‫الصراعات المعقّدة‪ ،‬بين فقده الجزئي لطفلٍ‬ ‫تأخّر إنجابه‪ ،‬وامرأة فتر حبها مع وطأة الفقد‬ ‫لرباط األمومة‪ .‬وما بين مؤسسات أمنية ت َسعى‬ ‫للس��يطرة علي��ه‪ ،‬وتوريطه لخدم��ة معاركها‪،‬‬ ‫بينما تو ّرطه جهة سيادية ُعليا في حل مشكلة‬ ‫أحد أبنائها‪ ،‬الذي يع ّرض األسرة الرئاسية لحرج‬ ‫هش‪.‬‬ ‫ال تتحمله ظروف مجتمع ّ‬

‫‪11:30‬‬

‫قاعة منتدى املهرجان‬

‫يف دبي ‪9‬‬

‫‪Screen Issue 3.indd 9‬‬

‫‪5‬‬

‫أفالم سعودية‬

‫تنافس على «املهر اخلليجي القصري»‬

‫البحار‬ ‫‪ ‬طارق ّ‬

‫تس��جل الس��عودية هذا الع��ام حض��ورا ً قوياً في‬ ‫«مهرج��ان دب��ي الس��ينمائي الدولي» بمش��اركة‬ ‫خمسة أفام سعودية في مسابقة «المهر الخليجي‬ ‫القصي��ر»‪ ،‬تمثل ثلث عدد األفام المتنافس��ة في‬ ‫فيلمااً من مختلف دول‬ ‫هذه المس��ابقة البالغة ‪ 15‬فيلم‬ ‫الخليج العربي‪ ،‬حيث يشارك المخرج بدر الحمود‬ ‫بفيلمه «فضيلة أن تكون ال أحدا ً‬ ‫أحدا»ً» ويلعب بطولته‬ ‫النجم��ان إبراهيم الحس��اوي ومش��عل المطيري‪،‬‬ ‫وتدور أحداثه حول شاب فقد عائلته فالتقى برجل‬ ‫مس ّن أعور يقلب حياته‪ .‬ويعد الفيلم الحادي عشر‬ ‫أفامااً‬ ‫أفام‬ ‫في مسيرة بدر الحمود اإلخراجية التي تضم أفاا‬ ‫ناجحة مث��ل «مونوبولي» و«س��كراب»‪ .‬المخرج‬ ‫الش��اب محمد الهلي��ل يقدم ف��ي «مهرجان دبي‬ ‫الس��ينمائي الدول��ي» فيلمه الجدي��د «‪ 300‬كم»‬ ‫ال��ذي يص��ور فيه رحل��ة طريق س��فر طويل‬ ‫لرج��ل وام��رأة ورضيعه��ا‪ ،‬في س��يارة‬ ‫صغي��رة‪ .‬وهو من بطول��ة خالد صقر‪،‬‬ ‫وزارا البلوش��ي‪ ،‬وإبراهي��م الحج��اج‪.‬‬ ‫كما تش��ارك المخرجة السعودية ريم‬ ‫البي��ات بفيل��م «أيقظن��ي» ال��ذي‬ ‫تم��رر في‬ ‫ت��روي فيه قص��ة امرأة تم�� ّ‬ ‫أزمة منتص��ف العم��ر‪ ،‬وتحاول‬ ‫اس��تعادة ِهوايته��ا الفنية في‬ ‫ظل إحساسها برفض اجتماعي‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫مترب��ص لها‪ ،‬وش��عور داخلي‬ ‫بالذن��ب‪ .‬ويلع��ب بطولت��ه‬ ‫كل من إبراهيم الحس��اوي‬ ‫وريم البيات وماهر الغانم‪.‬‬ ‫في حي��ن يش��ارك المخرج‬

‫فه��د الجودي بفيل��م «البجعة العربية»‬ ‫والمخرج جه��اد الخطيب بفيلم «مدينة‬ ‫تس��مى ثيوقراطية»‪ .‬للس��ينما السعودية‬ ‫هذا الع��ام نجاحات وإنجازات وانتش��ار‬ ‫عالم��ي‪ ،‬فقبل عامي��ن كان فيلم «وجدة»‬ ‫هو الوحيد في الصناعة الذي بفضله تمت‬ ‫دوليااً في االوسكار‪ ،‬على‬ ‫االشارة للسعودية دولي‬ ‫رغم عدم وجود دور للس��ينما (حتى االن)‬ ‫أو حت��ى الدع��م المنتظر لها م��ن الجهات‬ ‫المعنية‪ ،‬وقد تطور األمر بصورة سريعة إلى‬ ‫أن وصلنا إلى الع��ام ‪ 2016‬الذي أطلق عليه‬ ‫العديد م��ن الكتاب والنقاد بب�«عام الس��ينما‬ ‫خصوصااً بعد مشاركة قرابة ‪100‬‬ ‫الس��عودية»‪ ،‬خصوص‬ ‫فيلم س��عودي قصير وطويل ف��ي العديد من‬ ‫المهرجانات السينمائية‪.‬‬

‫‪ 3‬خمرجني وممثالن يف «جنوم الغد» العربية‬ ‫انضم الس��وري سامر إس��ماعيل واللبنانية مونيا عقل‪،‬‬ ‫واألردني أمجد الرش��يد‪ ،‬والتونس��ية مري��م الفرجاني‪،‬‬ ‫والمغرب��ي ع��اء الدين الجي��م‪ ،‬إلى مب��ادرة «نجوم‬ ‫الغد» التي أطلقها «مهرجان دبي السينمائي الدولي»‪،‬‬ ‫بالش��راكة مع «سكرين إنترناش��ونال»‪ .‬وتوفّر المبادرة‬ ‫بنس��ختها العربية منص��ة عالمية‪ ،‬يُعلن ويُس�� ّوق من‬ ‫خاله��ا ع��ن ممثلي��ن ومخرجين ع��رب واعدين‪ ،‬من‬ ‫ال ُمتوقّع لهم أن يحققوا نجاحات باهرة في المهرجان‪،‬‬ ‫والس��احة الدولي��ة‪ ،‬خال األع��وام المقبل��ة‪ .‬وقد تم‬ ‫اختيار «نجوم الغد» العرب من قبل مراس��لة «سكرين‬ ‫إنترناش��ونال» في الش��رق األوس��ط مياني غودفيلو‪،‬‬ ‫وبدعم من ليز شاكلتون‪ ،‬محرر آسيا‪ ،‬وفيونوال هاليغان‪،‬‬ ‫رئي��س قس��م النقد والتحري��ر‪ .‬خال ال��دورة الحالية‬ ‫ل�«مهرجان دبي الس��ينمائي الدول��ي» نحن على موعد‬ ‫مع المخرجة اللبنانية مونيا عقل‪ ،‬التي سيُعرض فيلمها‬ ‫الروائ��ي القصي��ر «صبمارين» ضمن مس��ابقة «المهر‬ ‫القصير»‪ ،‬وتدور أحداثه ح��ول أزمة النفايات المر ّوعة‬ ‫في لبنان‪ ،‬وتتحدث عن هالة؛ امرأة بروح طفلة شرسة‪،‬‬ ‫ترفض قرار اإلخاء‪ ،‬وتتش��بّث بكل ما تبقى من وطنها‪.‬‬

‫‪8‬‬

‫‪12/10/16 12:53 AM‬‬

‫تقدّم مونيا في الفيلم صورا ً وأس��اليب سردية مبتكرة‪.‬‬ ‫فيما س��يعرض للمخرج األردني أمجد الرش��يد‪ ،‬الفيلم‬ ‫الروائي «الببّغاء»‪ ،‬ضمن مسابقة «المهر القصير»‪ ،‬في‬ ‫عرضه العالم��ي األول‪ ،‬بإخراج مش��ترك مع دارين ج‪.‬‬ ‫ساّم‪ .‬حول قصة مثيرة لعائلة مزراحية تونسية‪ ،‬تحاول‬ ‫أن ت ّؤسس لحياة جديدة في فلسطين‪ .‬ويشارك الممثل‬ ‫الس��وري س��امر إس��ماعيل‪ ،‬في فيل��م «المختارون»‪،‬‬ ‫للمخرج اإلماراتي علي مصطفى‪ ،‬الذي س��يعرض ضمن‬ ‫مس��ابقة «المهر اإلماراتي»‪ ،‬وفيه يقدم اسماعيل أدا ًء‬ ‫رائع��اً ضمن األح��داث التي تدور في مس��تقبل بائس‬ ‫تع ّمه الفوضى‪ ،‬بس��بب تلوث المياه الصالحة للشرب‪.‬‬ ‫أما الفرجاني والجيم فيعمان في مش��اريع سينمائية‬ ‫قي��د التحقق‪ ،‬ومقبلة‪ .‬فتلع��ب الفرجاني دور البطولة‬ ‫في فيلم «عف��ت حياتي»‪ ،‬للمخرج��ة كوثر بن هنية‪،‬‬ ‫وهو حالياً ف��ي مرحلة ما بعد اإلنت��اج‪ ،‬ومن المتوقع‬ ‫أن يع��رض على شاش��ات المهرجانات ف��ي ‪ ،2017‬أما‬ ‫المخرج ع��اء الدين الجيم فيعم��ل حاليّاً على اخراج‬ ‫أول فيلم قصير له «القديس المجهول» الذي سيشارك‬ ‫في «مهرجان صندانس السينمائي»‪.‬‬

‫يف دبي ‪ 10‬ديسمرب ‪2016‬‬

‫‪Screen Issue 3.indd 8‬‬

‫«صائدة النسور»‪ ..‬فتاة تصنع املستحيل برؤية إخراجية ساحرة‬ ‫‪ُ ‬عال الشيخ‬

‫«صائدة النسور» أيش��ولبان نورغاييف هي‬ ‫أس��اس القصة وحبكتها وتطورها‪ ،‬ولكن بعد‬ ‫مدة بس��يطة من مرور الش��ريط ستدرك أن‬ ‫االب هو البط��ل الحقيقي‪ ،‬فه��و الذي آمن‬ ‫بق��درة ابنته ورغبته��ا في أن‬ ‫تكون صائدة نسور في مكان ال‬ ‫يعرف المرأة سوى في المطبخ‪،‬‬ ‫وم��ن جانب آخ��ر وبالرغم من‬ ‫قلة المش��اهد س��تدرك أن األم‬ ‫أيض��اً مع بس��اطتها تس��عى ألن‬ ‫تحقق ابنته��ا حلمه��ا‪ ،‬رغماً عن‬ ‫كل المعيق��ات المتعلقة بالعرف‬ ‫االجتماع��ي وبأج��واء الطقس غير‬ ‫المحتملة لمثل هذه المهمة‪.‬‬ ‫يحكي فيلم المخرج البريطاني أوتو‬ ‫بي��ل قص��ة أول صائدة نس��ور أنثى‬ ‫ف��ي منغوليا‪ ،‬والمعجب��ة بأبيها والتي‬ ‫تعتبره نموذجه��ا التي تريد أن تقتدي‬ ‫به‪ .‬وجهها الدائري وابتس��امتها الصافية‬ ‫وجدائله��ا المربوط��ة بش��رائط كبيرة على‬ ‫شكل وردة‪ ،‬ال يوحي أبدا ً أن ثمة تحدياً كبيرا ً‬ ‫ينم��و في قلب هذه الطفل��ة التي تبلغ من‬ ‫العمر ‪ 13‬عاماً‪ ،‬والت��ي تريد أن تثبت قوتها‬ ‫وتحقق ش��غفها من خالل صيد النسور التي‬ ‫تعتبر مهمة مقتصرة على الرجال‪ ،‬ومحكومة‬ ‫في مواس��م‪ ،‬وتساعد س��كان المنطقة على‬ ‫توفير الجلود خاص��ة جلود الثعالب لتقيهم‬ ‫برد تلك المنطقة من العالم‪.‬‬ ‫تعيش صائدة النسور في منطقة تصل درجة‬ ‫حرارتها في الشتاء الى ‪ 50‬تحت الصفر‪ ،‬ومن‬

‫خالل الش��ريط غير الروائي ستبدأ بالشعور‬ ‫أنك أمام برنامج يعرض على قناة ناش��يونال‬ ‫جيوغرافي��ك‪ ،‬من ش��دة التكنيك المتبع من‬ ‫قب��ل المخرج ف��ي إدارة تصوير المش��اهد‬ ‫الت��ي ال تالحظ أي خطأ فيها‪ ،‬الصورة صافية‬ ‫والوج��وه واضحة والصوت أيض��اً‪ ،‬و طريقة‬ ‫التتبع الخاصة ببناء عالقة بين النسر والفتاة‬ ‫الصغي��رة قد تضعك بحي��رة من صدقية كل‬ ‫تلك المشاهد‪ ،‬لتدرك لحظتها أنك أمام فيلم‬

‫غي��ر روائي يحكي قصة فتاة تعيش في هذا‬ ‫العالم ضمن طبيعة س��اهم المخرج بإيصال‬ ‫ظروفه��ا المناخية بكل ج��دارة تالءمت مع‬ ‫ج��دارة الفتاة في صيد النس��ور‪ ،‬وهي التي‬ ‫تريد تحقي��ق العديد من التحديات لتحصل‬ ‫عل��ى هذا اللقب‪ ،‬ابتدا ًء من اختيار نس��رها‬ ‫الصغير وتربيته ليكون جاهزا للمهمة الثانية‬ ‫وهي المش��اركة في مس��ابقة أفضل صائد‬ ‫نسور‪ ،‬وتكون هي الفتاة األولى التي تشارك‬

‫فيها وتفوز بالجائ��زة الكبرى‪ ،‬ومع كل هذه‬ ‫اإلنج��ازات اال أن كب��ار صائدي النس��ور ال‬ ‫يرغبون باالعت��راف بها مالم تصيد ثعلباً في‬ ‫ظرف مناخي ش��ديد الصعوبة‪ ،‬وهي تنجح‬ ‫بذلك أيضاً‪ .‬الفيلم بالمجمل سيأس��رك على‬ ‫الصعي��د العاطف��ي والبصري‪ ،‬ومن الس��هل‬ ‫أن يظ��ل ف��ي ذاكرتك م��دة طويل��ة‪ ،‬ومع‬ ‫ابتسامة أيشولوبان‪ ،‬ستدرك أن ال شيء بات‬ ‫مستحيالً‪.‬‬

‫«دبي السينمائي»‪ ..‬يحتـفي بتاريـخ السينما بعدسة «األخوين لوميري»‬ ‫يش��كّل عرض «مهرجان دبي السينمائي‬ ‫الدول��ي» لمجموعة مخت��ارة من األفالم‬ ‫القصي��رة لألخوي��ن لوي��س وأوغس��ت‬ ‫لوميير محطّ��ة فريدة لالحتف��اء بتاريخ‬ ‫الس��ينما‪ ،‬الذي يعود إل��ى أكثر من ‪120‬‬ ‫عاماً‪ ،‬وتقديم بعض اللحظات التأسيسية‬ ‫للس��ينما‪ ،‬من خالل أعمال اللذين يعود‬ ‫لهما الفضل في نش��أة الس��ينما عالمياً‪،‬‬ ‫كونهما من اخترع جهاز «سينماتوغراف»‪،‬‬ ‫يض��م المعرض مجموع��ة من ‪98‬‬ ‫حيث ُ‬ ‫فيلم��اً محفوظاً و ُمرمم��اً بتقنية التصوير‬ ‫عالي الدقة (‪ 4‬كي)‪ُ ،‬صنعت في الفترة ما‬ ‫بين ‪ 1895‬و‪ .1905‬كما يحتوي على صور‬ ‫تاريخية لفرنسا والعالم في القرن ال�‪.20‬‬ ‫ق��دم الع��رض تي��ري فريم��و‪ ،‬المدي��ر‬ ‫الفن��ي ل�«مهرج��ان كان الس��ينمائي»‪،‬‬ ‫ومدير «معهد لوميي��ر» في مدينة ليون‬ ‫الفرنسية‪ ،‬وهو واحد من أبرز شخصيات‬ ‫السينما العالمية‪ .‬يقول فريمو‪« :‬سيمكّننا‬ ‫الع��رض من إع��ادة اكتش��اف واالحتفاء‬

‫بأعم��ال المخرجي��ن اللذين لعب��ا الدور‬ ‫األكبر بإيصال السينما وصناعة األفالم إلى‬ ‫المرحلة الت��ي نعرفها اليوم‪ ،‬وأحدثا ثورة‬ ‫في تط�� ّور الصور المتحرك��ة نهاية القرن‬ ‫التاس��ع عش��ر‪ ،‬األمر الذي م ّهد الطريق‬ ‫لزيادة شعبية السينما وتط ّورها»‪.‬‬ ‫وكان األخ��وان لوميي��ر اخترع��ا جه��از‬ ‫«سينماتوغراف» اللتقاط وتطوير وعرض‬ ‫الص��ور المتحركة في العام ‪ ،1895‬وأنتجا‬ ‫بعضاً من أقدم وأش��هر األفالم‪ ،‬باستخدام‬ ‫أهم االختراعات‬ ‫الجهاز الذي يُعدّ أح��د ّ‬ ‫في عالم الس��ينما‪ ،‬إذ غ ّير منظور الناس‬ ‫للحي��اة‪ .‬والتقط األخ��وان لوميير بعض‬ ‫الص��ور المتحركة‪ ،‬التي تُع��دّ األولى في‬ ‫تاري��خ الس��ينما‪ ،‬ويكش��ف إخراجهم��ا‬ ‫لمشاهد معينة‪ ،‬واس��تخدامهما للقطات‬ ‫متحرك��ة‪ ،‬ومؤث��رات خاصة‪ ،‬ع��ن ف ّنهما‬ ‫المميز في صناعة األفالم‪.‬‬

‫‪ 10‬ديسمرب ‪2016‬‬

‫‪12/10/16 12:53 AM‬‬

‫يف دبي ‪7‬‬

‫‪Screen Issue 3.indd 7‬‬

‫«املُ درّسة»‪ ..‬درس يف صناعة الفيلم السياسي‬ ‫‪ ‬أحمد شوقي‬

‫نظرياً‪ ،‬تُش��كَل ش��خصيات وأخالقيات األطف��ال عبر مزيج مما‬ ‫يتلقون��ه من تربية وتعليم في المنزل والمدرس��ة‪ ،‬فإن عجزت‬ ‫إحدى المؤسس��تين عن القيام بدورها يفترض أن تحل األخرى‬ ‫محله��ا حت��ى ال يكون النشء ضحي��ة لعجز الكب��ار‪ .‬لكن ماذا‬ ‫يحدث ل��و كان الطرفان مداني��ن؟ لو كان النظ��ام االجتماعي‬ ‫بأكمله يدعم تشويه نفوس الصغار ويدفعهم دفعاً للخطأ؟‬ ‫من هذا الس��ؤال ينطلق فيلم «المد ّرس��ة» للمخرج التشيكي‬ ‫يان هريبي��ك‪ ،‬المعروض ضمن برنامج «س��ينما العالم»‪ ،‬راوياً‬ ‫حكاية الرفيقة درازيخوفا‪ ،‬مد ّرس��ة اللغ��ة والتاريخ في إحدى‬ ‫الضواحي السلوفاكية‪ ،‬ورئيسة لجنة الحزب الشيوعي المحلية‪،‬‬ ‫التي تس��تغل س��لطتها المزدوجة في الحزب والمدرسة ل ُتسخّر‬ ‫الطلب��ة وعائالته��م في خدمتها‪ ،‬فم��ن ال يقدم له��ا ما تريده‬ ‫يُعاقب بتحويل حياة طفله المدرس��ية جحيماً‪ ،‬ومن يس��تجب‬ ‫لالبتزاز يضمن ابنه أو ابنته الحصول مبكراً على أسئلة االختبار‪.‬‬ ‫في ظروف س��ويّة يس��تحيل لعنصر كهذه المعلمة أن يس��تمر‬ ‫طوي��الً‪ ،‬فال أحد يمكنه أن يبت ّز الجميع ويضمن س��المته‪ .‬لكن‬ ‫في تشيكوسلوفاكيا الش��يوعية‪ ،‬ومع سلطة الرفيقة درازيخوفا‬ ‫الحزبي��ة‪ ،‬تظهر المداهنة والخ��وف والمحاباة والتملق والظلم‬ ‫قيم��اً يُفطر عليه��ا الصغار‪ ،‬عندم��ا يجدون تصرف��ات كل من‬ ‫يفترض فيهم أن يكونوا قدوة تأتي أبعد ما تكون عن الصواب‪.‬‬

‫واالجتماعي؛ فهي ترتكب جريمة واضحة األركان وتسيء بتع ّمد‬ ‫ألطفال ال يستحقون ما تفعله بهم‪ ،‬لكنها في الوقت ذاته تؤمن‬ ‫أن ما تقوم به هو حقها الذي ال يتضمن أي خطأ‪ ،‬بل أحياناً نكاد‬ ‫نلمس يقينها بأنها ضحية يظلمها هؤالء اآلباء!‬ ‫الس��يناريو يمزج تصرفات هذه الش��خصية الثرية بالتناقضات‪،‬‬ ‫مع المواجهة بين اآلباء والكاش��فة لتباينهم بين نفس��ية البطل‬ ‫الراغب ف��ي المواجهة حماية البنته‪ ،‬واالنتحاري الذي يش��ارك‬ ‫ألنه ال يملك بديالً‪ ،‬والحذر الذي ينتظر االحتماء باآلخرين قبل‬ ‫أن يق��رر‪ ،‬وصوالً إل��ى الملكيين أكثر من الملك��ة‪ ،‬المتطوعين‬ ‫بالهج��وم وتكذيب اتهامات هم أول م��ن يعلم بصحتها حماي ًة‬ ‫ألنفسهم ولمكتسبات رخيصة ضمنوها ألوالدهم‪ .‬لينتج عن كل‬ ‫ه��ذا لوح��ة بانورامية لما يمكن أن يحويه مجتمع ُمفس��د من‬ ‫صور للعالقة بالفس��اد‪ ،‬دون أن ينحرف الفيلم ولو لحظة خارج‬ ‫مسار حكايته أو يتحول لخطاب سياسي حول عيوب الشمولية‬ ‫وتأثير مصادر القوى‪.‬‬ ‫له��ذا يمكنن��ا أن نعتبر «المد ّرس��ة» نموذج��اً مثالي��اً للفيلم‬ ‫السياس��ي كما يج��ب أن يكون‪ ،‬فمن ناحية ه��و يمتلك وجهة‬ ‫نظر سياس��ية واجتماعية حاذقة‪ ،‬ال تكتفي باإلعالن عن موقف‪،‬‬ ‫بل تقوم بتش��ريح الوضع وتحليل عناص��ره‪ ،‬ومن ناحية أخرى‬ ‫يقوم بذلك بشكل سينمائي بحت‪ ،‬عبر حكاية شيقة في صورتها‬ ‫المج��ردة‪ ،‬مروية في س��يناريو محكم و ُمقدم��ة بإخراج وأداء‬ ‫تمثيلي يكمالن متعة المشاهدة‪.‬‬

‫على هذا المستوى يمكن أن نصف «المد ّرسة» بأنه عمل وجيه‬ ‫على المس��توى القيمي في تش��ريحه لعيوب نظ��ام اجتماعي‬ ‫وسياس��ي قادر على إحداث هذا اإلفس��اد الممنهج‪ .‬لكن هذه‬ ‫وحدها ليست أس��باباً كافياً لخلق فيلم سينمائي جيد‪ ،‬فاأله ّم‬ ‫في حالتنا ه��و كيفية صياغة هذه األفكار في بناء درامي مبهر‬ ‫في إحكامه‪ ،‬صاغ��ه المؤلف بيتر يارخوفس��كي والمخرج يان‬ ‫هريبيك بحي��ث يمضي الفيل��م بثقة وتكامل بي��ن المضمون‬ ‫والشكل‪.‬‬ ‫الشكل هنا هو التقاطع بين مستوين زمنيين‪ :‬األول هو الحاضر‬ ‫الدرامي‪ ،‬وفيه اجتماع صاخب آلباء تالميذ المد ّرس��ة المتهمة‬ ‫بهدف تحريك ش��كوى ضدها‪ ،‬والثاني هو الماضي الذي يتحرك‬ ‫الفيل��م فيه بحرية لع��رض تاريخ عالقة كل ش��خصية بالرفيقة‬ ‫درازيخوف��ا‪ ،‬وكيف تعامل كل أب أو أم مع طلبات المد ّرس��ة‬ ‫االبتزازية‪.‬‬ ‫اجتم��اع اآلب��اء وطابعة المس��رحي (وحدة الم��كان والزمان)‬ ‫يذكرن��ا بمداولة المحلفين األش��هر في تاريخ الس��ينما بفيلم‬ ‫س��يدني لوميت (‪ 12‬رجالً غاضباَ – ‪ ،)1957‬السيما في الكشف‬ ‫التدريجي للحقيقة عبر الحوار‪ ،‬والتغ ّير الذي يطرأ على مواقف‬ ‫الشخصيات من موضوع الجدل بنا ًء على ما يولّده الحديث من‬ ‫مش��احنات وإزاحة للستار عن حقائق مسكوت عنها‪ .‬مع فارق‬ ‫مؤل��م هو أن المحلفي��ن في فيلم لوميت كان��وا أصحاب قرار‬ ‫يتجادلون للحسم‪ ،‬بينما اآلباء في فيلم هريبيك هم في النهاية‬ ‫عديمو الحيلة‪ ،‬خاضعون لنظام قام في األغلب بتشويهه‪،‬م كما‬ ‫يشهدون تشويه أبنائهم‪ ،‬فصار منهم من يرى الخطأ بعينيه‪ ،‬ثم‬ ‫ينكره خوفاً من تبعات مواجهته‪.‬‬ ‫أم��ا الماض��ي فكلم��ة الس�� ّر في��ه � بخالف النس��ج‬ ‫المحك��م للمواق��ف الدرامية � ه��و أداء البطلة‬ ‫س��وزانا ماوريري الذي استحقت عليه جائزة‬ ‫أحس��ن ممثلة من مهرجان كارلوفي فاري‪،‬‬ ‫بتجسيدها لتناقضات ش��خصية المد ّرسة‬ ‫صاحبة النفوذ‪ ،‬والتي يمكن اعتبارها هي‬ ‫األخرى نموذجاً مثالياً للتش��وه النفسي‬

‫‪6‬‬

‫‪12/10/16 12:53 AM‬‬

‫يف دبي ‪ 10‬ديسمرب ‪2016‬‬

‫‪Screen Issue 3.indd 6‬‬

‫«ربيع»‪ ..‬لعنة الهويّة واخلرائط املبعرثة‬ ‫‪ ‬علي وجيه‬

‫لم تغادر أس��ئلة الهويّ��ة واالنتماء‪ ،‬وهواجس‬ ‫م��ا بعد الح��رب األهليّ��ة‪ ،‬الس��ينما اللبنانية‬ ‫منذ انتهى القتال عام ‪ .1990‬عش��رات األفالم‬ ‫ح ّرض��ت الذاك��رة وفتحت الجرح بقس��وة أو‬ ‫مراع��اة‪ ،‬بش��كل مباش��ر أو بالتنقي��ب تحت‬ ‫المس��تويات األولى‪« .‬ربيع» للبناني فاتش��ي‬ ‫بولغورجي��ان‪ ،‬يفع��ل ذل��ك من وجه��ة نظر‬ ‫مغايرة‪ :‬كي��ف تبدو األمور م��ن عيني ضرير‬ ‫فاقد له ّويته؟‬ ‫ربي��ع (بركات جبور) يع��زف ضمن جوقة في‬ ‫قريته الش��ماليّة‪ .‬عدم قدرته عل��ى الرؤية ال‬ ‫تق ّربه من «الش��يخ حس��ني» في‬ ‫«الكيت كات» (‪ )1991‬لداود عبد‬ ‫الس��يّد‪ ،‬وإن كان موهوباً مثله في‬ ‫التعام��ل م��ع اآللة‪ .‬يعي��ش حيا ًة‬ ‫هادئ��ة م��ع أ ّم مخلص��ة (جولي��ا‬ ‫قص��ار) وخ��ال مح��ب (توفي��ق‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫بركات)‪ .‬تتلقّى الفرقة دعو ًة للقيام‬ ‫بجولة فنيّة في أوروبا‪ ،‬فيقدّم طلباً‬ ‫للحصول على جواز سفر‪ .‬يكتشف‬ ‫أ ّن هويت��ه م��ز ّورة‪ .‬ينه��ار عالمه‬ ‫عندما يعلم أنّ��ه ليس من يعتقد‪.‬‬ ‫هو ابن عائلة أخرى‪ ،‬ال يعرف عنها‬ ‫ش��يئاً‪ .‬يصبح كاآللة التي أعجبته‪:‬‬ ‫«كم��ان قديم‪ ،‬صوت��ه مثل الحري��ر‪ ،‬ولكن ال‬ ‫نعرف أصله»‪.‬‬ ‫سريعاً‪ ،‬ينطلق الشاب الحائر في رحلة للبحث‬ ‫ع��ن ج��ذوره الحقيقيّة‪ ،‬في تج��وال وجودي‬ ‫للتع ّرف عل��ى الذات والكي��ان‪ .‬يقطع دروب‬ ‫الريف‪ ،‬متن ّقالً بين القرى والبيوت‪ّ .‬‬ ‫يدق باب‬ ‫ش��يخ‪ ،‬ويدخل ميتماً أرمني��اً‪ .‬يجالس أصدقاء‬ ‫المالحات‪،‬‬ ‫خال��ه القدام��ى ق��رب الم ّ‬ ‫كل منهم‬ ‫المصحات العقلية‪ّ .‬‬ ‫وفي المص ّح‬

‫يمنحه معلوم ًة صغيرةً‪ ،‬لن تقوده س��وى إلى‬ ‫مزي��د من الحيرة والتخبّ��ط‪ .‬هذا ال يثنيه عن‬ ‫الدأب‪ ،‬مس��تمعاً إلى قصص الح��رب وحكايا‬ ‫الضي��ع المد ّمرة‪ .‬يحدّثه الس��ائق عن انقطاع‬ ‫االرتباط ببيت العائلة العتيق‪ .‬يصارحه الشيخ‪:‬‬ ‫«كتير جيوش إجوا وفلّوا‪ .‬ما في خراب‪ ،‬وما في‬ ‫بنايات جديدة‪ ،‬وما في ش��ي»‪ .‬تتفتّح بصيرته‬ ‫على الحقيقة اآلن‪ .‬هذا بلد الخرائط المبعثرة‬ ‫واألرواح الملعون��ة إلى األب��د‪ .‬رائحة الحرائق‬ ‫والمجازر الجماعية تفوح مجددا ً‪ ،‬لتزكم أنفه‬ ‫يطل‬ ‫وتزيد م��ن غليان��ه الداخل��ي‪ .‬الماضي ّ‬ ‫برأسه‪ ،‬كوحش أسطوري غير قابل للموت‪.‬‬ ‫هذا فيلم بديع عن اغتراب الفرد داخل وطنه‪،‬‬ ‫عن التش�� ّوه الذي يُخلَق مع المرء‪ .‬مزيج بين‬ ‫فيلم الطريق وفيلم الش��خصية الواحدة‪ ،‬التي‬ ‫كل المش��اهد‪ .‬تسير في دائرة من‬ ‫تقوده في ّ‬ ‫الشخوص واألماكن التي برع بولغورجيان في‬ ‫اختيارها‪ ،‬لتعود إل��ى منطلقها األول (البيت‪/‬‬ ‫القرية)‪ .‬عدم إظهار المدينة رغم ذكرها خيار‬ ‫مقص��ود‪ ،‬للبقاء داخل الجغرافي��ا األولى‪ .‬إنّها‬ ‫األصل‪ ،‬واألرض البكر‪ ،‬والس��جن المطبق‪ .‬إنّها‬ ‫المشكلة والحل في آن‪.‬‬ ‫س��ينماتوغرافيا (جايم��س لي في��الن) تالئم‬ ‫الطرح المظلم ورؤية البطل‪ ،‬إذ تفضّ ل العتمة‬ ‫في كثير من األحيان‪ .‬اإليقاع ثقيل‪ ،‬يأخذ وقته‬ ‫في مفاصل محدّدة (توليف‪ :‬ناديا بن رشيد)‪.‬‬ ‫االس��تغراق في الزمن يش��بع حال��ة االغتراب‬ ‫والحي��رة‪ ،‬ويؤكّد على ثبات ال�«ما في ش��ي»‪.‬‬ ‫موس��يقا (س��ينتيا زافي��ن) متقشّ ��فة‪ .‬تدخل‬ ‫ف��ي الوقت المناس��ب لتتويج ذل��ك‪ .‬جوزيه‬ ‫س��اراماغو لم يكتب «العمى» عن عبث‪ ،‬قبل‬ ‫أن يح ّوله��ا فرناندو ميريليس إل��ى فيلم عام‬ ‫‪ .2008‬ف��ي ه��ذه المنطقة م��ن العالم‪ ،‬يولد‬ ‫اإلنسان ملعوناً قابالً للعطب واالنتهاك‪ .‬كيف‬ ‫كل ذلك؟‬ ‫يمكن ّأال نُصاب بالعمى بعد ّ‬

‫«إجناز»‪ ..‬يدعم ‪ 11‬فيلم ًا‬ ‫مشارك ًا يف الدورة الـ ‪13‬‬ ‫من��ذ انطالقت��ه في الع��ام ‪ ،2007‬أصبح برنام��ج «إنجاز» ركي��ز ًة لنم ّو صناعة‬ ‫الس��ينما في المنطقة‪ ،‬ودعم أكثر من ‪ 120‬فيلماً‪ ،‬ف��ي مراحل ما بعد اإلنتاج‪،‬‬ ‫وس��اعد ُمخرجيها على وضع اللمس��ات األخيرة ألعمالهم‪ ،‬من الس��يناريو إلى‬ ‫السينما‪ ،‬وعرض مش��اريعهم الفنية على الشاشة الفضية‪ ،‬أمام شريحة متنوعة‬ ‫من الجمهور‪ ،‬في المنطقة وخارجها‪ ،‬والترويج لها في العالم‪.‬‬ ‫وخ��الل دورته ال���‪ 13‬يعرض في «مهرجان دبي الس��ينمائي الدولي» ‪ 11‬فيلماً‬ ‫مميزاً كان س��اهم «سوق دبي الس��ينمائي» بدعمها من خالل برنامج «إنجاز»‪،‬‬ ‫وهي‪« :‬علي معزة وإبراهيم» للمخرج ش��ريف البنداري‪ ،‬و«انشالله استفدت»‬ ‫و«عسل ومط ٌر وغُبا ْر»‬ ‫ٌ‬ ‫للمخرج محمود المساد‪ ،‬و«فالش» للمخرج حسن كياني‪،‬‬ ‫للمخرج��ة نجوم الغانم‪ ،‬و«نار من نار» للمخرج جورج هاش��م‪ ،‬و«اليابس��ة»‬ ‫للمخ��رج لوران أيت بنعال‪ ،‬و«م ّيل يا غزيّل» للمخرجة إليان الراهب‪ ،‬و«ربيع»‬ ‫للمخرج فاتشي بولغورجيان‪ ،‬و«أيقظني» للمخرجة ريم البيات‪ ،‬و«زينب تكره‬ ‫الثلج» للمخرجة كوثر بن هنية‪ ،‬و«نُحبك هادي» للمخرج محمد بن عطية‪.‬‬

‫‪ 10‬ديسمرب ‪2016‬‬

‫‪12/10/16 12:53 AM‬‬

‫يف دبي ‪5‬‬

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‫عرق الشتا‪..‬‬ ‫موسيقا مرئية على طريق‬ ‫السينما اخلالصة‬

‫‪ ‬طارق الشناوي‬

‫التجهي��ز الوحيد الذي يج��ب أن يتحلى به‬ ‫المتاب��ع لهذه ال��دورة م��ن «مهرجان دبي‬ ‫الس��ينمائي الدولي» هي أن هناك شاش��ة‬ ‫تملك الحقيقة والجاذبية في نفس الوقت‪.‬‬ ‫بتلك الذخيرة الحية من األفالم التي تنتعش‬ ‫به��ا العديد من التظاه��رات‪ ،‬دعونا نتوقف‬ ‫أمام واحد منها «عرق الش��تا» الذي يعرض‬ ‫في المسابقة الرسمية للمهر الطويل‪ ،‬حيث‬ ‫يجمع بين اإلطار الجمالي والفلسفي في آن‬ ‫واحد‪ .‬ليس��ت سينما تحريضية من أجل أن‬ ‫تلهم��ك أو تبعث بداخل��ك روح المقاومة ‪،‬‬ ‫فهذا المعنى تجاوزته الس��ينما وهي تشب‬ ‫عن الط��وق‪ ،‬ولكن هذا الفيل��م المغربي‪،‬‬ ‫الذي يُقدمه حكيم بلعباس هو تعبير مباشر‬ ‫عن الس��ينما الت��ي ال تخضع س��وى لعلم‬ ‫وفلس��فة الجمال‪ ،‬في عناق تعلن عنه صوتاً‬ ‫وصورة ‪.‬‬ ‫ومن��ذ اختي��ار العن��وان تجد أن��ه يمنحك‬ ‫الخيط للتأم��ل‪ ،‬حيث أن الص��راع الداخلي‬ ‫ه��و المع��ادل الموضوع��ي للع��رق الذي‬ ‫‪4‬‬

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‫يفرزه هذه المرة البرد ‪ ،‬لسنا بصدد معركة‬ ‫محتدمة تصط��دم خاللها بتل��ك الصراعات‬ ‫الظاهري��ة ولك��ن كل الش��خصيات تعيش‬ ‫المعاناة وتتعاطف وتتماهى كمشاهد معها‬ ‫إال أنك ال تتورط في أن ت ُصبح طرفاً إيجابياً‪.‬‬ ‫حافظ المخرج على تلك المسافة التي تمنح‬ ‫الفيلم خصوصية ف��ي التعبير لتعلو به إلى‬ ‫مصاف السينما الخالصة‪ ،‬ليس مهماً ما الذي‬ ‫تروي األهم هو كيف تتعانق كل المفردات‬ ‫في لوحة على الشاشة‪.‬‬ ‫إن��ك أمام ش��ريط ينطق ب��كل المفردات‬ ‫الجمالي��ة‪ ،‬تصويرا ً وموس��يقا وأداء ممثلين‪،‬‬

‫وقبل كل ذلك إحساس ينساب داخل الفيلم‬ ‫ليقدم لنا حياة بشر يعبرون عن ثالثة أجيال‬ ‫يعيش��ون الحياة الضنين��ة ولكنهم يملكون‬ ‫أس��لحة المقاومة‪ ،‬الش��يء من الممكن أن‬ ‫يش��عرك بأنك بصدد مجموعة من الممثلين‬ ‫يقدمون فيلماً وال حتى سيناريو اشتغل عليه‬ ‫حكي��م بلعباس وهو أيض��اً المونتير ولكنها‬ ‫س��ينما تهتف بأنها حقاً س��ينما‪ ،‬ولهذا فإن‬ ‫المنطق��ي لتش��عر بكل هذا االنس��ياب‪ ،‬أن‬ ‫يُصب��ح المخرج والكات��ب والمونتير واحدا ً‪،‬‬ ‫وكأن الفيلم دفقة واحدة‪.‬‬ ‫الش��خصيات مث��ل الجد والحفي��د تتناقض‬

‫وأيضاً تتالقى‪ ،‬الجد الطاعن في العمر ولكنه‬ ‫يري��د أن يكمل الحياة من خالل اس��تدعاء‬ ‫الماض��ي‪ ،‬الحفيد لديه إعاقة ذهنية يتعثر‬ ‫ف��ي التعبير عن نفس��ه أو يتحول إلى مادة‬ ‫س��اخرة لزم��الء المدرس��ة‪ ،‬المقاومة هي‬ ‫المفت��اح ويتكئ على الخيال ‪ ،‬وفي مش��هد‬ ‫مؤثر يعلم��ه األب كيف يحل��ق ذقنه في‬ ‫تفصيل��ة تمنحنا الخيط لندرك أنه وصل إلى‬ ‫مرحلة عمرية بدايات اإلحس��اس بالرجولة‪.‬‬ ‫الموسيقا ت ُقدم لمحات من الفلولكور برؤية‬ ‫وبتوزي��ع موس��يقي عصري‪ .‬الش��تاء عندما‬ ‫يفرز عرق��اً فإن النت��اج هو المعان��اة التي‬ ‫تعيش��ها األسرة التي تستلهم روح المقاومة‬ ‫من القدر الذي يب��دو ال فكاك منه‪ ،‬والمرأة‬ ‫في الفيلم تظل ش��اطئ التالقي بين األجيال‬ ‫الثالثة‪.‬‬ ‫الفيل��م ال يمكن أن تضعه في إطار الحبكة‬ ‫ولك��ن كل الش��خصيات األربعة الرئيس��ية‬ ‫تملك معاناة داخلي��ة وأيضاً رغبة في القفز‬ ‫بعي��دا ً عن الق��در‪ .‬لوحة س��ينمائية قدمها‬ ‫بلعباس تجمع بين الرؤية الفانتازيا والواقع‪،‬‬ ‫حيث تلمح األرض والسماء والطبيعة والبشر‬ ‫في عناق وكأنها موسيقا مرئية!!‬

‫يف دبي ‪ 10‬ديسمرب ‪2016‬‬

‫‪Screen Issue 3.indd 4‬‬

‫يو‬

‫م ال‬

‫ثال‬

‫ث‬

2016 ‫ ديسمرب‬10 ‫السبت‬

‫ال‬

‫بالعـــربية‬

‫فـي مهـرجـــان دبــــي السـينـمائي الـدويل‬ www.ScreenDaily.com

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Editorial lizshackleton@gmail.com

Advertising scott.benfold@screendaily.com

12/10/16 12:53 AM

‫وم‬ ‫الي‬ Screen Issue 3.indd 2

12/10/16 12:52 AM

1

9/12/2016

‫بالعـــربية‬

7:22 pm

‫ال‬

cb_press_fpfc.pdf

‫يو‬

‫م ال‬

‫ثال‬

‫ث‬

2016 ‫ ديسمرب‬10 ‫السبت‬

‫فـي مهـرجـــان دبــــي السـينـمائي الـدويل‬ 1 9/12/2016 7:22 pm www.ScreenDaily.com

cb_press_fpfc.pdf

Screen Issue 3.indd 1

Editorial lizshackleton@gmail.com

Advertising scott.benfold@screendaily.com

12/10/16 12:52 AM