NOVEMBER 19 - December 03, 2021
barbican cinemas | ica | curzon soho | soas
DOUBLE BILL (+ SCREEN TALK)
THE LAST DAYS OF APRIL | OURS IS A COUNTRY OF WORDS
SATURDAY 20 NOVEMBER | 18:30
ica: THE MALL, ST. JAMES'S, SW1Y 5AH
"Living under occupation forces us to think differently. You have to learn to live with it." These two documentaries present, both, in their cinematic form as well as the stories they convey, the powerful role of imagination and belief in resistance.
The Last Days of April
Laurence Buelens and Jean Forest | 2021 | 24'
In the 5000-year-old Palestinian village of Battir, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, it is said that every stone contains a story. In April 1949, after a string of battles and massacres, the Israeli army reached the gates of Battir. A handful of villagers decide to use candles, sticks and other forms of trickery to protect their home from the fate of their neighbours. Based on testimonials of village elders, this short documentary mixes video, animated stills and an ambient soundscape to pay tribute to their ingenious resistance. With a poetic pace, The Last Days of April probes this unbelievable village legend of military deception.
Ours is a Country of Words
Mathijs Poppe | 2017 | 43’
A documentary about a hypothetical situation, the story begins in an undetermined moment in the future when the Palestinian right of return becomes a reality. Balancing between fiction and documentary, dream and reality we watch as families in the Shatila refugee camp prepare for their fictional return. What would they pack, who will they miss? Through the words they convey about the dream of returning, we have a deeper understanding of what it means to live in exile. This film, a fiction performed by non-actors, shows the inverse of a reality. In watching the dream unfold, we see a reality that can only be conveyed through the imagination.
This session will be followed by a screen talk with Mathijs Poppe, director of Ours is a Country of Words and Andrea Luka Zimmerman, Jarman Award-winning documentary maker. Hanan Hindawi, a member of the cast, will also be present for this in-person event.