Skip to main content

2019

Kasim Abid

Kasim Abid is an award-winning Iraqi filmmaker, director, producer, and the cameraman of all his films. He graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad and holds an MA from VGIK-All-Union State Institute of Cinematography from Moscow. He is the co-founder of Independent Film and Television College; a non-governmental Baghdad-based free-of-charge film training college whose graduates won several prestigious awards. Kasim taught Film Directing and Cinematography in countries including Britain, Jordan, Sudan, and Palestine (Jerusalem, Gaza, and Birzeit).

Erased,_Ascent of the Invisible

Erased,_Ascent of the Invisible

 

Synopsis
Thirty-five years ago, I witnessed the kidnapping of a man I know. Since then, he simply disappeared. Ten years ago, I caught a glimpse of his face while walking in the street, but I was not sure it was him. Parts of his face were torn off, but his features had remained unchanged since the incident. Yet something was different... as if he was not the same man.

Ghassan Halwani

Ghassan Halwani is an animator and filmmaker based in Beirut. He directed and produced the experimental short-animated film, JIBRALTAR (2005) and is known for his artistic endeavors in the region. Among his contributions has been the animation work he did for the Franco-Lebanese documentary, THE LEBANESE ROCKET SOCIETY (2012), which received prestigious awards worldwide, and the animated music short film he co-directed with Tamer Abu Ghazaleh, TAKHABOT. His projects focus on bringing attention to the lesser-known public and political spheres in Lebanon.

Mahmoud Sabbagh

Mahmoud Sabbagh, born in 1983 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, graduated from Columbia School of Journalism in New York. In 2015, he founded Elhoush Productions, the first independent feature film production company based in Jeddah.

Screwdriver [Mafak]

Screwdriver [Mafak]

 

CLOSING FILM

 

 

Synopsis
After fifteen years of imprisonment, Ziad struggles to adjust to modern Palestinian life as the hero everyone hails him to be. Unable to distinguish reality from hallucination, he unravels and forces himself to go back to where it all began.

Bassam Jarbawi

Bassam Jarbawi began working as a photographer during the second Palestinian Intifada. His photographs produced several exhibits and his first documentary, FREQUENCY (2004). He completed his B.A. in Communication and Political Science at Macalester College, and earned his M.F.A. in Screenwriting and Directing at Columbia University in New York. His short film, CHICKEN HEADS, premiered at New York Film Festival, screened at Sundance Film Festival, and won Best Film at the Columbia University Film Festival, Sonoma Film Festival, and Dubai International Film Festival, to name a few.

Exterior/Night

Exterior/Night

Synopsis
Moe, Toutou, and Mostafa are three individuals breaking social norms and flirting with its boundaries; each fighting their own battle. They meet one extraordinary night, which ends up leading them to an unexpected journey inside their city where they see a side of it they had never witnessed before.

Ahmad Abdalla

Ahmad Abdalla is an Egyptian Filmmaker. He first studied music in Cairo before he shifted his career to film editing in 2003. HELIOPOLIS (2009), his first feature film, was one of the first independent Egyptian films to be released theatrically in Egypt, followed by MICROPHONE, which Dubai Film Festival selected among the best 100 Arabic films in history. He then wrote and directed RAGS AND TATTERS, followed by DÉCOR. His films were selected at various international festivals and awarded numerous prizes. 

Subscribe to 2019