PART OF MIZNA'S TWIN CITIES ARAB FILM FESTIVAL
Screening with short film 9 Days—From My Window In Aleppo.
The Gaza Strip, a stolen lion, and the resurgence of old conflict are the backdrop to this play-like drama. Most of the action in Dégradé takes place inside Christine’s beauty shop on a busy summer day. It is claustrophobic, hot, and full of clients from all walks of life. This stressful work day is intensified by gunfire across the street, and trapped in the salon, the characters’ stories unfold. According to the directors, Arab and Tarzan Nasser, this film is inspired by growing up in Gaza: it depicts a story of everyday experience in the small plot of occupied land, “absurd and prohibitive.” The film’s cramped spaces and notable color palate capture these sentiments, while the characters bring humor and humanity to the screen.
Director Biography
Arab and Tarzan Nasser are budding filmmakers and identical twins born in Gaza. In 2010, they received the A.M. Qattan Foundation’s prestigious Young Artist of the Year Award for the conceptual artwork, Gazawood, a series of mock-Hollywood posters for imaginary films named after real Israeli military offenses on Gaza. Their 2013 short Condom Lead screened at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as the 2015 iteration of the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival.
9 Days-From My Window In Aleppo
Dir. Issa Touma
with Floor van der Meulen and Thomas Vroege
2015 | Netherlands/Syria | Arabic | 13 min | Minnesota Premiere
SYNOPSIS: One morning in August 2012, renowned Syrian photographer Issa Touma saw young men lugging sandbags outside his home. It was the start of the Syrian uprising on his street in the city of Aleppo. Touma grabbed his camera and spent nine days besieged in his apartment, recording what was going on outside. The result is an unprecedented glimpse into a war that has been raging for over five years.
FESTIVALS AND AWARDS
International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film, Germany, 2015
International Short Film Festival Winterthur, Switzerland, 2015
International Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2016
Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, France, 2016
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY: Issa Touma is a photographer based in Aleppo, Syria. In 1996 he established Le Pont, a gallery and workshop for photography, and in 1997, he started the International Photography Festival in Aleppo. His work can be found in international collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
PRESENTED WITH SUPPORT BY
TWIN CITIES ARAB FILM FESTIVAL
Mizna presents the eleventh Twin Cities Arab Film Festival in partnership with the Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul. The Arab Film Fest showcases modern Arab cinema, featuring debut screenings of independent narrative, documentary, and experimental features and shorts.