Transit Game
Anna Fahr, Canada, 2014, 18 min, Toronto Premiere, in Arabic with English Subtitles (Precedes Silvered Water – Syria Self-Portrait) In the northern mountains of Lebanon, a Syrian man hoping to reunite with family torn apart by war encounters two Palestinian children whose own stories of exile provide a glimpse into the uncertainties he must face as...
Diaspora in Short
Every year, Diaspora in Short showcases short films by talented diasporic filmmakers. This year, we havefive films made by Iraqi young filmmakers and one by an Iranian-Canadian Children of God Ahmed Yassin, UK/The Netherlands, 2013, 10 min, in Arabic with English Subtitles A young amputee boy bets his prized possessions, a series of football...
The Missing Picture
Rithi Panh, Cambodia, 2013, 92 min, in English Academy Awards 2014, nominate for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar; Cannes Film Festival 2013, winner, Un Certain Regard Award; Istanbul International Film Festival 2014, FACE Award; Jerusalem International Film Festival 2014, Spirit of Freedom Award; Cinemanila International Film Festival 2013, Grand Jury Prize For many years, I...
The Price of Sugar (Hoe Duur was de Suiker)
Jean van de Velde, The Netherlands, 2013, 121 min, in Dutch with English Subtitles, Canadian Premiere Opening film, Nederlands Film Festival 2013 2013 marked the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the former Dutch colony of Suriname. Jean van de Velde’s 18th Century Suriname drama The Price of Sugar tells the compelling story...
Ice Poison
Midi Z, Burma/Taiwan, 2014, 95 min, In Burmese with English Subtitles, Canadian Premiere Winner, Best International Film, Edinburgh FF; Festival Prize and Press Award, Taipei FF A farmer from an impoverished village in Burma moves to the city and pawns his cow for a moped to earn a living as a taxi driver. He meets...
Silvered Water – Syrian Self-Portrait (Ma’a al-fidda)
Ossama Mohammed and Wiam Simav Bedirxan, Syria/France, 2014, 92 min, in Arabic with English Subtitles In Syria, everyday, YouTubers film, then die; others kill, then film. The exiled Syrian filmmaker Ossama Mohammed joins forces with the newcomer Wiam Simav Bedirxan, a young Kurdish woman from Homs whose first name Simav means silvered water. The two...
Iranian
Mehran Tamadon, France/Switzerland, 2014, 105 min, in Farsi with English Subtitles An atheist, Iranian filmmaker Mehran Tamadon managed to convince four mullahs, all believers in the Islamic Republic of Iran, to come and stay with him for two days and engage in discussion. In this confined space, daily life is combined with debate, an unremitting...
Manuscripts Don’t Burn
Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran, 2013, 125 min, in Farsi with English subtitles Cannes Film Festival 2013, Un Certain Regard, FIPRESCI prize; Fribourg International Film Festival 2014, Don Quixote Award; Hamburg Film Festival 2013, Political Film Award INSPIRED BY TRUE EVENTS Kasra is an Iranian author who manages to secretly write down his memoirs, although being under...
GERONIMO
Tony Gatlif, France, 2014, 107 min, Toronto Premiere Official Selection, Cannes Film Festival 2014; Piazza Grande, Locarno Film Festival 2014 Cross-cultural tensions, star-crossed lovers, flamenco dancing and a hot summer sun: Geronimo captures the passion and chaos that ensues when a teenage girl of Turkish origin elopes with her gypsy lover, leaving in her wake...
ANA ARABIA (I Am Arab)
Amos Gitaï, Israel/France, 2013, 85 min, in Hebrew and Arabic with English Subtitles, Toronto Premiere Venice Film Festival 2014, in Competition, Grean Drop Award, SIGNI Award, Nominated for Golden Lion. Yael, a young journalist, investigates the death of an Auschwitz survivor married to a Palestinian in a forgotten enclave in the southern suburbs of Tel-Aviv....
Everyday Rebellion
Arash and Arman Riahi, Switzerland/Germany, 2014, 118 min, in English, Arabic, Spanish,Ukranian with English Subtitles, Canadian Premiere Democracy is like love. You have to make it! What does the Occupy movement in New York have in common with the Spanish Indignados protests or the Arab Spring? Is there a connection between the Iranian democracy movement...
