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Panorama of contemporary Arab documentary cinema IV: Middle East spaces
From April 26, 2010 until May 14, 2010
Casa Árabe presents the fourth edition of its Panorama of contemporary Arab documentary cinema, which is framed within the International Festival Documenta Madrid 2010 which will be held from the 10th to the 14th of May in Madrid.
This season, whose representant is the Egyptian director Basel Ramsis, shows seven documentary films which have the treatment of the space and places in the Middle East as a common axis. Furthermore, a section is dedicated to Ateyyat El Abnoudy, one of the most relevant Arab female documentary film directors.
Zahra, by Muhammad Bakry (Palestina, 2009, 63 min.).
The film tells the story of Zahra, the director's aunt, from the village of Albaena, in Galilea. After the war in 1948, Zahra was forced to act as mother of the whole family. Her memories, and those of her village and family, are mixed with the history of the Galilean village and that of others in the area.
Reciclaje (Recycling), by Mahmoud Al Massad (Jordan, Germany, Holland and United States, 2007, 80 min.).
Through the character's portrait, cousin of the known terrorists Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the documentary film shows a view of life in the Jordan village al-Zarqa and the concerns and daily routine of the main character and his close surroundings, in the post 9/11 world context.
Mi corazón solo latió por ella (My heart just beat for her), by Mohamed Soueid (Lebanon, 2008, 87 min.).
In the 70s, many Lebanese and Palestinians of the Fatah movement looked to Vietnam. Although new generations have their looks set on Dubai, or they rest in Beirut and South Lebanon, some still keep dreaming of Hanoi. The documentary film constitutes a mosaic of those four places becoming one through Hatem Hatem's story, “Abu Hasan Hanói”.
Vecinos (Neighbours), by Tahani Rached (Egypt, 2009, 105 min.)
Garden City is a small , emblematic and wealthy area in Cairo, which since the end of 19th Century has became the centre of political power in Egypt. The film strolls among abandoned palaces, embassies, buildings and streets of the area, where there are also homes for people of low means. A route through the neighbours' viewpoint.
Un caballo de barro (A mud Horse), by Ateyyat El Abnoudy (Egypt, 1971, 12 min.).
Next to the Nile, there are hundreds of small factories which still use ancient methods to produce brick out of mud. There, old horses, along with men, women and children, work hard sharing their suffering.
El bocadillo (The Sandwich), by Ateyyat El Abnoudy (Egypt, 1975, 13 min.).
Abnoud is an Egyptian village 600 kilometers south of Cairo, through which trains full of tourists pass heading south, but without stopping there.
Los sueños posibles (Impossible dreams), by Ateyyat El Abnoudy (Egypt and Germany, 1982, 30 min.).
The documentary film tells the story and dreams of a peasant from a small village close to the city of Suez, in Egypt. She gets married at14 years old, flees the village during the 1967 war and finally returns after the 1973 war.
Showings will take place every day at the Casa Árabe's Auditorium in Madrid, from 17.30 to 19.30 in original version subtitled in Spanish.
Zahra, by Muhammad Bakry (Palestina, 2009, 63 min.).
The film tells the story of Zahra, the director's aunt, from the village of Albaena, in Galilea. After the war in 1948, Zahra was forced to act as mother of the whole family. Her memories, and those of her village and family, are mixed with the history of the Galilean village and that of others in the area.
Reciclaje (Recycling), by Mahmoud Al Massad (Jordan, Germany, Holland and United States, 2007, 80 min.).
Through the character's portrait, cousin of the known terrorists Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the documentary film shows a view of life in the Jordan village al-Zarqa and the concerns and daily routine of the main character and his close surroundings, in the post 9/11 world context.
Mi corazón solo latió por ella (My heart just beat for her), by Mohamed Soueid (Lebanon, 2008, 87 min.).
In the 70s, many Lebanese and Palestinians of the Fatah movement looked to Vietnam. Although new generations have their looks set on Dubai, or they rest in Beirut and South Lebanon, some still keep dreaming of Hanoi. The documentary film constitutes a mosaic of those four places becoming one through Hatem Hatem's story, “Abu Hasan Hanói”.
Vecinos (Neighbours), by Tahani Rached (Egypt, 2009, 105 min.)
Garden City is a small , emblematic and wealthy area in Cairo, which since the end of 19th Century has became the centre of political power in Egypt. The film strolls among abandoned palaces, embassies, buildings and streets of the area, where there are also homes for people of low means. A route through the neighbours' viewpoint.
Un caballo de barro (A mud Horse), by Ateyyat El Abnoudy (Egypt, 1971, 12 min.).
Next to the Nile, there are hundreds of small factories which still use ancient methods to produce brick out of mud. There, old horses, along with men, women and children, work hard sharing their suffering.
El bocadillo (The Sandwich), by Ateyyat El Abnoudy (Egypt, 1975, 13 min.).
Abnoud is an Egyptian village 600 kilometers south of Cairo, through which trains full of tourists pass heading south, but without stopping there.
Los sueños posibles (Impossible dreams), by Ateyyat El Abnoudy (Egypt and Germany, 1982, 30 min.).
The documentary film tells the story and dreams of a peasant from a small village close to the city of Suez, in Egypt. She gets married at14 years old, flees the village during the 1967 war and finally returns after the 1973 war.
Showings will take place every day at the Casa Árabe's Auditorium in Madrid, from 17.30 to 19.30 in original version subtitled in Spanish.
