Middle East: What Can Cinema Do? is delighted to present 50 films over a 12-day period. Documentaries are in the majority, proving that the political and economic woes of the region have not stifled the filmmakers, but more fiction are being presented than ever before; certain filmmakers have pursued their cinematic talent finding new ways to communicate their messages. There are about twenty feature-length films, fifteen shorts and the other fifteen are mid-length films.
Works by these Middle Eastern film directors are complemented by a certain number of films by American and European directors, notably from Spain, France, Belgium and Sweden. All the films presented at the event, in alphabetical order, will be available below for you to discover.
Works by these Middle Eastern film directors are complemented by a certain number of films by American and European directors, notably from Spain, France, Belgium and Sweden. All the films presented at the event, in alphabetical order, will be available below for you to discover.
Screening date : 12/12/2009 -- 15h30
Shadi in the Beautiful Well
An autistic boy, Shadi, lives in a Palestinian refugee camp where he is constantly tormented by his neighbors’ kids. However, an unexpected present changes everything.
Screening date : 04/12/2009 -- 20h00
The Shooter
Palestine is being staged by the international media and Palestinians have become "performers" of dramatic international evening newscasts.
Screening date : 10/12/2009 -- 20h00
Si eux se taisent,les pierres crieront
Voices are heard, which attempt to oppose a different way of being to the repetitive patterns oppressor-oppressed, occupier-occupied.
Screening date : 10/12/2009 -- 20h
Slingshot Hip Hop
Slingshot Hip Hop braids together the stories of young Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza and inside Israel as they discover Hip Hop and employ it as a tool to surmount divisions imposed by occupation and poverty. From internal checkpoints and Separation Walls to gender norms and generational differences, this is the story of young people crossing the borders that separate them.
Screening date : 13/12/2009 -- 17h15
SOS in Tehran
A psychological help center, a charity founded by Ayatollah Khomeini, a conservative mariage bureau, a course in prenuptial education, psychoanalysis for wealthy residents of Tehran…Rich, poor, educated, illiterate, religious, atheist, married, adolescent, how does one live in the islamic republic? In a changing society, caught between economic crisis and corruption on the one hand and desire for renewal on the other, the reality of Iran surprises, astonishes, frightens.