DANCE OF OUTLAWS

82 minutes, 2012
Director : Mohamed EL ABOUDI (Moroccco, Finland)
Production : Illume Ltd, Road Movies, Piraya Films As (Finland)

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Hind, 22, is a dealer’s daughter. Driven from her home at 14 because she had been raped, she dances at weddings and prostitutes herself. Officially Hind does not exist. She can’t find her birth certificate and therefore has no right to identity papers. Yet she dreams of a better future: of marrying her lover, regaining custody of her children, getting a job and a real home.

Mohamed EL ABOUDI was born and grew up in Morocco. He studied theatre at Fez University, then cinema and television at Bond University, Australia. Amongst his recent films: “Fight of Fate” (2010), “City Folk Helsinki” (2007), “Inside / Offside” (2006), “Two Mothers” (2005), “Ramadan” (2004) and “My Father, the Freemason” (2003).

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WARSHEH

WARSHEH

by Lucile GARCON

23 minutes, 2010

Production : Rami ZURAYK et Lucile GARCON / France

Every year, at the beginning of spring, Syrian buses go down the Euphrates valley on their way to the Lebanese border. Three years of consecutive drought have made the people of the Fertile Crescent hostile, many Syrians are thrown out on to the road with nothing to eat. Whole families cross the Anti-Lebanon mountains; the men find jobs in construction, either at Saïda or Beirut, the women and children work in the fields, bullied by the foremen and a boss who takes a percentage of their wages. Come the winter, some of these seasonal workers do not go back home, they spend years in make-shift potato-sack tents along the roads which lead to the famous archaeological site at Baalbeck. If, from the window of their car, tourists find the idea of a nomadic life charmingly archaic, the view from inside the camp shows archaism of a different sort, less romantic, more typical of modern refugee camps.

Lucile GARCON was born in Normandy in 1987. Having studied agronomy and anthropology in Paris, she set out with a camera for the Lebanon in September 2009. While working on research projects for the American University in Beirut, she wrote a few articles and made a documentary on the condition of agricultural workers on the Beqaa plain. She is currently working on a thesis on food . As a director she has made the following films: “Warsheh” (2010, 23 minutes); “Un hectare à Beyrouth” (2009, 5 minutes); “Le temps des cerises” (2008, 22 minutes).

SAYDA

SAYDA

by Michael ABI KHALIL

18 minutes, 2010

Production : IESAV Institut d’études scéniques, audiovisuelles et cinématographiques / Lebanon

The documentary is about an atypical couple and the pressure they are under. Filipinno worker Lee-Zayda was employed at Majdi’s house, the relationship developed, now they are married. In their Lebanese village of Kahale, however, their neighbours are not models of tolerance.

Michael ABI KHALIL was born in Kahale, Lebanon, in 1988. He is a student at the Institute for Scenic and Audiovisual Studies at Saint-Joseph University, Beirut. “Sayda” (2010) is his first documentary.

MOTHERS 15 CENTS A MINUTE

MOTHERS 15 CENTS A MINUTE

by Marina SERESESKY

28 minutes, 2011

Production : Teatro Meridional S.L. / Espagne

Is it possible to be a long-distance mother? Can one educate one’s child from a phone box? Women who go miles away to provide a better future for their children tell us how they live their roles as mother using a telephone or a computer .

Marina SERESESKY was born in 1969 in Buenos Aires (Argentina). She is an actress and director in both theatre and film. Her short film “El Cortejo” has been shown in several festivals, winning several awards. Currently she is working at the Teatro Meridional in Madrid as well as the Centro Dramatico Nacional.

MY DREAM BIKE

MY DREAM BIKE

by Serda YALIN

15 minutes, 2009

Production : TRT Kids (Turkish Radio & Television Corporation) / Turquie

Abdullah is 11 and lives with his parents and 11 brothers and sisters in Hasankeyf, a historic, and very tourist-orientated town in eastern Turkey. He is desperate to have his own bicycle but knows his parents cannot possibly afford to buy him one. How can he obtain the bike of his dreams? He decides to earn the necessary money himself. He assumes his responsibility by taking a major decision: he will become a tourist guide.

Serda YALIN was born in 1967 in Istanbul. She graduated in journalism and public relations in 1988 and the same year began to work for TRT. Since 1995 she has made television programmes for children and young people. In 1995 she won the Turkish Union of Journalists’ Prize with the TV series “Cakiltasi”. Her other TV programme for pre-school children, “Apple Worm”, is one of the finalists in the 2008 Japan Prize.