São Paulo – Some of the latest short- and medium-length documentaries made in the Middle East will feature in Brazil from December 9 to 14. Organized by the Arab House of Spain, Instituto Cervantes and the Institute of Arab Culture (Icarabe), “Panorama of Arab Documental Cinema –Middle East Spaces” will tackle productions themed after “space,” which portray how the place individuals live in influences their lives.
Four productions are medium-length films and three are short films. By the Egyptian Mohamad Bakri, “Zahra” (2009) shows the memories of the director’s aunt, whom the film is named after. Zahra, who lives in a village in Galilee, recounts the history of her family and of the people of al-Baena after the Arab-Israeli war of 1948.
In turn, “Recycle,” by Mahmoud Al Massad, portrays the daily lives of the inhabitants of a poor village in Jordan. Poverty is also the theme of “Neighbors,” directed by Tahani Rached. The director opposes the reality of the Garden City neighbourhood in the 19th century, when it housed palaces, and the decay that took over decades later.
Lebanon is represented by the film “My heart beats only for her,” which shows the reality of many locals as time passes on: in the 1970s, many were paying attention to the events unfolding in Hanoi, Vietnam, which staged a war that the United States lost. Now, many youths dream of the prosperous Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
“Dubai is the place young people dream of, they regard Dubai as an icon of wealth, of [job] opportunities. Hanoi was paid attention to in the 1970s because of issues such as freedom, war, the relation between them,” says Icarabe cultural director Soraya Smaili.
As for the short films, “Sandwich” depicts an Egyptian village which tourist trains pass through, never stopping so passengers can grasp the local reality. In “Possible Dreams,” a young Egyptian peasant woman marries and leaves her village. She returns after the Yom Kipur war in 1973. “Horse of mud” shows the daily struggles of Egyptian workers in a tile factory.
Program
Dec 9 – 7:30 pm
Zahra (63 min, Spanish subtitles)
Dec 10 – 1:00 pm
Recycle(80 min, Portuguese subtitles)
Dec 12 – 7:30 pm
My heart beats only for her (87 min, Spanish subtitles)
Dec 13 – 7:30 pm
Neighbors (105 min, Spanish subtitles)
Dec 14 – 7:30 pm
Horse of mud (12 min, Spanish)
Sandwich (13 min, Spanish)
Possible dreams (30 min, Spanish)
Service
The films will be screened at Instituto Cervantes, on Paulista Ave., 2,439, Consolação neighborhood. For information call (+55 11) 3897-9600 (Instituto Cervantes) and (+55 11) 5084-5131 (Icarabe).
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
