To My Father
By: Abdelsalam Shehade
Those were the days when
girls were prettier, when eyes were in all colours, without any colour. What's
Different now - the camera, or the eyes?" asks Abdel Salam Shehadah's
poetic and mesmerizing homage to the studio photographers of the 1950's - 70's.
Set partly in a refugee camp in Rafah, this is a remarkable look back at fifty
years of Palestinian and Arab history, through photographs, reportage and the
voices of these photographers today.To My Father is a deeply personal and moving film that confirms the talent of
Gaza-born director Shahadah, who having worked all over the world as a
director, cameraman and journalist, recently turned to film making. A photo here
is not just a photo: it brings history to life.
Directed by: Michel
Khleifi
It's the story of M, a European-based Palestinian filmmaker who is shooting a documentary in Palestine about the 1948 expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland. He receives a phone call from his sister in Nazareth telling him that his nephew has killed a man during a scuffle and the whole family is now in danger. He is advised to fly back to Europe, or at least to stay away from Nazareth. But he refuses and decides to go back home at three o’clock in the morning.