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Portrait of a Certain Orient
January 29, 20257:00 p.m.
MADRID
Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62).
7:00 p.m.
5 euros: general tickets at the box office.
4 euros: Tickets purchased online, the officially unemployed, Casa Árabe
Language Center students and Youth Card holders, by showing the proper
documentation. You may only receive one discount per ticket. Sales in
advance at www.casaarabe.es up to the day of the screening at 12:00 p.m.
Those tickets not sold online will be made available for purchase on
the day of the screening at Casa Árabe’s headquarters, as of one hour
before each screening (payment in cash or by debit/credit card).
Assigned seats with tickets.
Film in Arabic and Portuguese, with Spanish subtitles.
On Wednesday, January 29 in Madrid, Casa Árabe will be screening this feature film based on the novel “Tale of a Certain Orient” by Milton Hatoum, released in 2024 and winner of the Colón de Oro Award at the Huelva Festival. At the end of the screening, there will be a discussion with director Marcelo Gomes and producer Ernesto Soto. Buy your tickets online now.
Lebanon, 1949. The country is facing an imminent war.Two siblings of Christian faith, Emilie and Emir, embark on a journey to Brazil in search of a better life. During their journey, Emilie falls in love with a Muslim merchant, Omar. Emir suffers uncontrollable jealousy and will use their religious differences to separate them. Before reaching their final destination, during a fight with Omar, Emir is seriously wounded in a gun accident. The only option for Emilie is to get off the boat and search through an indigenous village in the middle of the jungle for a healer to save him. When her brother recovers, they finally arrive in Manaus, where Emilie makes a decision that will have tragic consequences.
Portrait of a Certain Orient is afilm about memory, passion and prejudice, which tells the saga of the Lebanese immigrants in the Amazon jungle.
Marcelo Gomes (Pernambuco, 1963) is a screenwriter and director from Brazil. With a degree in Journalism, he received a scholarship from the British Council to continue his studieswith a graduate degree in Film at the University ofBristol. His debut feature film, Cinema, Aspirin and Vultures,was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005 and won theFrench National Education Award. His first feature film, I Travel Because I Need to, I Come Back Because I Love You, which he co-directedwith Karim Aïnouz, premiered at Venice (Orizzonti) in 2009. His historical biopic Joaquim was selected for the Berlinalein 2017 . His documentary Waiting for Carnival premiered at the Berlinale in 2019 and wasselected for the Masters program at IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam), having won the Special Jury Prize at the seventeenth Seoul Environmental Film Festival in 2020. His feature film Paloma premiered at the Munich International Film Festival and has won several awards around the world, including Best Film and Best Actress at the Rio Film Festival in 2022. Portrait of a Certain Orient, his most recent film, premiered in 2024 at the Rotterdam Festival and won the best film award (Colón de Oro) at the Huelva Festival.
Ernesto Soto (Lima, 1972) is a journalist, screenwriter and producer. He graduated from Northwestern University (Chicago, USA) and the University of Navarre (Spain) in Journalism and Business Management. He is a partner and founder of Misti Producciones (São Paulo). Responsible for the executive production of feature films Joaquim by Marcelo Gomes (Brazil-Portugal, 2017), Perlimps de Alê Abreu (Brazil, 2022), and Portrait of a Certain Orient by Marcelo Gomes (Brazil-Italy, 2024). From 2005 to 2013, he was in charge of the audiovisual unit for Grupo Editorial Sol90 in Barcelona, producing documentaries and animated series. He created the children’s series Javi y el Club de Árbol (2013), Grandes Civilizaciones (2009) and The Time Compass (2010).
Portrait of a Certain Orient is afilm about memory, passion and prejudice, which tells the saga of the Lebanese immigrants in the Amazon jungle.
Marcelo Gomes (Pernambuco, 1963) is a screenwriter and director from Brazil. With a degree in Journalism, he received a scholarship from the British Council to continue his studieswith a graduate degree in Film at the University ofBristol. His debut feature film, Cinema, Aspirin and Vultures,was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005 and won theFrench National Education Award. His first feature film, I Travel Because I Need to, I Come Back Because I Love You, which he co-directedwith Karim Aïnouz, premiered at Venice (Orizzonti) in 2009. His historical biopic Joaquim was selected for the Berlinalein 2017 . His documentary Waiting for Carnival premiered at the Berlinale in 2019 and wasselected for the Masters program at IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam), having won the Special Jury Prize at the seventeenth Seoul Environmental Film Festival in 2020. His feature film Paloma premiered at the Munich International Film Festival and has won several awards around the world, including Best Film and Best Actress at the Rio Film Festival in 2022. Portrait of a Certain Orient, his most recent film, premiered in 2024 at the Rotterdam Festival and won the best film award (Colón de Oro) at the Huelva Festival.
Ernesto Soto (Lima, 1972) is a journalist, screenwriter and producer. He graduated from Northwestern University (Chicago, USA) and the University of Navarre (Spain) in Journalism and Business Management. He is a partner and founder of Misti Producciones (São Paulo). Responsible for the executive production of feature films Joaquim by Marcelo Gomes (Brazil-Portugal, 2017), Perlimps de Alê Abreu (Brazil, 2022), and Portrait of a Certain Orient by Marcelo Gomes (Brazil-Italy, 2024). From 2005 to 2013, he was in charge of the audiovisual unit for Grupo Editorial Sol90 in Barcelona, producing documentaries and animated series. He created the children’s series Javi y el Club de Árbol (2013), Grandes Civilizaciones (2009) and The Time Compass (2010).
Still from the feature film.