The story behind the making of Palestinian-Danish director Mahdi Fleifel’s second feature, To a Land Unknown, is probably as intriguing as the film itself. Shot on the fly in Greece, with production beginning exactly a month after the Hamas attacks of October 7th, the movie was somehow completed in time to premiere at Cannes just over six months later.
That may be something of a record in terms of delivering a feature, but it also speaks to the precarious and volatile situation the film is depicting: that of Palestinian refugees stuck in Athens en route to someplace else, caught in a purgatory between a home they can’t return to and a new one they don’t know.
For best friends Chatila (Mahmood Bakri) and Reda (Aram Sabbah), the heroes of Fleifel’s melancholic, shaggy-dog street movie, that purgatory has been going on for some time. When we first see the two 20somethings,...
That may be something of a record in terms of delivering a feature, but it also speaks to the precarious and volatile situation the film is depicting: that of Palestinian refugees stuck in Athens en route to someplace else, caught in a purgatory between a home they can’t return to and a new one they don’t know.
For best friends Chatila (Mahmood Bakri) and Reda (Aram Sabbah), the heroes of Fleifel’s melancholic, shaggy-dog street movie, that purgatory has been going on for some time. When we first see the two 20somethings,...
- 5/23/2024
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Hussain Currimbhoy is the new Artistic Director at Toronto’s Hot Docs.
The filmmaker takes the helm from Shane Smith, who left in June. Currimbhoy will begin his role immediately. He’ll lead programming for the upcoming 2024 Hot Docs Festival, held between April 25-May 5 in Canada next year.
The job also gives him responsibility for Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Toronto’s Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema and Docs for Schools, the organization’s national educational program.
Currimbhoy was born in Toronto and has worked as a film producer, director and film curator since 2002. He was executive producer on feature documentaries such as And, Towards Happy Alleys, Praying For Armageddon, Tomorrow’s Freedom and The Beloved and was the Cmp’s Director of Investment and Global Strategy.
As a film programer he has worked for the likes of Sundance Film Festival, Sheffield DocFest, Melbourne International Film Festival, Nordisk Panorama Film Festival,...
The filmmaker takes the helm from Shane Smith, who left in June. Currimbhoy will begin his role immediately. He’ll lead programming for the upcoming 2024 Hot Docs Festival, held between April 25-May 5 in Canada next year.
The job also gives him responsibility for Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Toronto’s Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema and Docs for Schools, the organization’s national educational program.
Currimbhoy was born in Toronto and has worked as a film producer, director and film curator since 2002. He was executive producer on feature documentaries such as And, Towards Happy Alleys, Praying For Armageddon, Tomorrow’s Freedom and The Beloved and was the Cmp’s Director of Investment and Global Strategy.
As a film programer he has worked for the likes of Sundance Film Festival, Sheffield DocFest, Melbourne International Film Festival, Nordisk Panorama Film Festival,...
- 11/13/2023
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Toronto’s Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary film festival, has appointed Hussain Currimbhoy as its artistic director. He replaces Shane Smith, who left the organization in June, and will assume his role immediately.
Currimbhoy has worked as a film producer, director and film curator since 2002. He is an executive producer on feature documentaries such as “And, Towards Happy Alleys”, “Praying for Armageddon” (Cph:dox), “Tomorrow’s Freedom” (Sheffield DocFest) and “The Beloved” (Melbourne Film Festival).
He has worked with the Chicago Media Project as their director of investment and global strategy, and lead for the Shifting Voices Film Fund, Cmp’s program designed to elevate and support feature documentary works by marginalized filmmakers.
As a film programmer, Currimbhoy has worked for film and industry events including Sundance Film Festival, Sheffield DocFest, Melbourne Film Festival, Nordisk Panorama Film Festival, Doc 10 and the Red Sea Film Festival. In 2023, he created and launched the Gåsebäck Film Festival,...
Currimbhoy has worked as a film producer, director and film curator since 2002. He is an executive producer on feature documentaries such as “And, Towards Happy Alleys”, “Praying for Armageddon” (Cph:dox), “Tomorrow’s Freedom” (Sheffield DocFest) and “The Beloved” (Melbourne Film Festival).
He has worked with the Chicago Media Project as their director of investment and global strategy, and lead for the Shifting Voices Film Fund, Cmp’s program designed to elevate and support feature documentary works by marginalized filmmakers.
As a film programmer, Currimbhoy has worked for film and industry events including Sundance Film Festival, Sheffield DocFest, Melbourne Film Festival, Nordisk Panorama Film Festival, Doc 10 and the Red Sea Film Festival. In 2023, he created and launched the Gåsebäck Film Festival,...
- 11/13/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
CANNES -- Jean-Luc Godard's new film is part melancholy contemplation on the impact of war and part learned disquisition on the essence of cinema and how the two have entwined to become the music of our lives.
The film is beautifully shot and edited and largely accessible. Lovers of cinema will like it for its insights into the melding of text and images, and it will find a broader audience for its contribution to the debate on modern war.
The film is in three parts, each named for a Kingdom: Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. The first is a shattering montage of clips, still shots and bits of film showing the full catastrophe of war from a wide variety of sources, including such pictures as "Kiss Me Deadly", "Zulu" and "Apocalypse Now".
To the sound of a pounding piano, Godard mixes film textures, colors, close-ups and myriad images of everything from chariots to tanks, arrows to rockets and horses to jet fighters. The 12-minute masterpiece of filmmaking is an explosive display of war's carnage, banality and suffering. A young voice on the soundtrack needlessly observes, "It is terrible here".
In the second kingdom, Godard himself arrives in Sarajevo to join a group of celebrated writers and philosophers at a literary convention. They interact with fictional characters that include a young Russian Jewish woman named Olga, whose story provides the semblance of a plot line for the remainder of the film.
The strife in the Balkans is examined within sight of Sarajevo's Mostar Bridge, which is being reconstructed. "A survivor is not only changed, he's someone else," one man observes.
Each of the wise men has his moments onscreen. One says that communism has only ever existed once, on an English soccer field in 1953 when the Hungarian national team beat the English side 6-3. "The English played as individuals and lost," the philosopher remarks. "The Hungarians played as a team and won."
Godard spends time speaking of filmmaking, particularly the significance of following a shot by a countershot. When a student asks the 70-year-old legend if the digital camera will save cinema, Godard looks blank and makes no reply at all.
Memories of dreadful times and the ongoing threat of terror permeate the film. One character recalls a German Catholic girl who said in 1943 that the dream of the one is to become two, but the dream of the state is to become one. "They cut off her head", he says.
The horror and pointlessness of it all drives Olga to thoughts of suicide, and before the film brings its taste of heaven, the director will learn of her fate.
The melancholy approach to the subject extends to the self-portrait Godard provides. The firebrand of old is here a genial companion who smokes cigars and calls for champagne. In our last sight of him, he's tending his garden.
NOTRE MUSIQUE
A Peripheria production distributed by Les Films du Losange with international sales by Wild Bunch
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Jean-Luc Godard
Producers: Alain Sarde
Ruth Waldburger
Director of photography: Julien Hirsch
Art director: Anne-Marie Mieville. Cast: Judith Lerner: Sarah Adler
Olga Brodsky: Nade Dieu
Ramos Garcia: Rony Kramer
Indian: George Aguilar
Indian: Leticia Gutierrez
As themselves: Juan Goytisolo, Mahmoud Darwich, Jean-Paul Curnier, Gilles Pequeux, Pierre Bergounioux, Jean-Luc Godard.
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 80 minutes...
The film is beautifully shot and edited and largely accessible. Lovers of cinema will like it for its insights into the melding of text and images, and it will find a broader audience for its contribution to the debate on modern war.
The film is in three parts, each named for a Kingdom: Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. The first is a shattering montage of clips, still shots and bits of film showing the full catastrophe of war from a wide variety of sources, including such pictures as "Kiss Me Deadly", "Zulu" and "Apocalypse Now".
To the sound of a pounding piano, Godard mixes film textures, colors, close-ups and myriad images of everything from chariots to tanks, arrows to rockets and horses to jet fighters. The 12-minute masterpiece of filmmaking is an explosive display of war's carnage, banality and suffering. A young voice on the soundtrack needlessly observes, "It is terrible here".
In the second kingdom, Godard himself arrives in Sarajevo to join a group of celebrated writers and philosophers at a literary convention. They interact with fictional characters that include a young Russian Jewish woman named Olga, whose story provides the semblance of a plot line for the remainder of the film.
The strife in the Balkans is examined within sight of Sarajevo's Mostar Bridge, which is being reconstructed. "A survivor is not only changed, he's someone else," one man observes.
Each of the wise men has his moments onscreen. One says that communism has only ever existed once, on an English soccer field in 1953 when the Hungarian national team beat the English side 6-3. "The English played as individuals and lost," the philosopher remarks. "The Hungarians played as a team and won."
Godard spends time speaking of filmmaking, particularly the significance of following a shot by a countershot. When a student asks the 70-year-old legend if the digital camera will save cinema, Godard looks blank and makes no reply at all.
Memories of dreadful times and the ongoing threat of terror permeate the film. One character recalls a German Catholic girl who said in 1943 that the dream of the one is to become two, but the dream of the state is to become one. "They cut off her head", he says.
The horror and pointlessness of it all drives Olga to thoughts of suicide, and before the film brings its taste of heaven, the director will learn of her fate.
The melancholy approach to the subject extends to the self-portrait Godard provides. The firebrand of old is here a genial companion who smokes cigars and calls for champagne. In our last sight of him, he's tending his garden.
NOTRE MUSIQUE
A Peripheria production distributed by Les Films du Losange with international sales by Wild Bunch
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Jean-Luc Godard
Producers: Alain Sarde
Ruth Waldburger
Director of photography: Julien Hirsch
Art director: Anne-Marie Mieville. Cast: Judith Lerner: Sarah Adler
Olga Brodsky: Nade Dieu
Ramos Garcia: Rony Kramer
Indian: George Aguilar
Indian: Leticia Gutierrez
As themselves: Juan Goytisolo, Mahmoud Darwich, Jean-Paul Curnier, Gilles Pequeux, Pierre Bergounioux, Jean-Luc Godard.
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 80 minutes...
CANNES -- Jean-Luc Godard's new film is part melancholy contemplation on the impact of war and part learned disquisition on the essence of cinema and how the two have entwined to become the music of our lives.
The film is beautifully shot and edited and largely accessible. Lovers of cinema will like it for its insights into the melding of text and images, and it will find a broader audience for its contribution to the debate on modern war.
The film is in three parts, each named for a Kingdom: Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. The first is a shattering montage of clips, still shots and bits of film showing the full catastrophe of war from a wide variety of sources, including such pictures as "Kiss Me Deadly", "Zulu" and "Apocalypse Now".
To the sound of a pounding piano, Godard mixes film textures, colors, close-ups and myriad images of everything from chariots to tanks, arrows to rockets and horses to jet fighters. The 12-minute masterpiece of filmmaking is an explosive display of war's carnage, banality and suffering. A young voice on the soundtrack needlessly observes, "It is terrible here".
In the second kingdom, Godard himself arrives in Sarajevo to join a group of celebrated writers and philosophers at a literary convention. They interact with fictional characters that include a young Russian Jewish woman named Olga, whose story provides the semblance of a plot line for the remainder of the film.
The strife in the Balkans is examined within sight of Sarajevo's Mostar Bridge, which is being reconstructed. "A survivor is not only changed, he's someone else," one man observes.
Each of the wise men has his moments onscreen. One says that communism has only ever existed once, on an English soccer field in 1953 when the Hungarian national team beat the English side 6-3. "The English played as individuals and lost," the philosopher remarks. "The Hungarians played as a team and won."
Godard spends time speaking of filmmaking, particularly the significance of following a shot by a countershot. When a student asks the 70-year-old legend if the digital camera will save cinema, Godard looks blank and makes no reply at all.
Memories of dreadful times and the ongoing threat of terror permeate the film. One character recalls a German Catholic girl who said in 1943 that the dream of the one is to become two, but the dream of the state is to become one. "They cut off her head", he says.
The horror and pointlessness of it all drives Olga to thoughts of suicide, and before the film brings its taste of heaven, the director will learn of her fate.
The melancholy approach to the subject extends to the self-portrait Godard provides. The firebrand of old is here a genial companion who smokes cigars and calls for champagne. In our last sight of him, he's tending his garden.
NOTRE MUSIQUE
A Peripheria production distributed by Les Films du Losange with international sales by Wild Bunch
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Jean-Luc Godard
Producers: Alain Sarde
Ruth Waldburger
Director of photography: Julien Hirsch
Art director: Anne-Marie Mieville. Cast: Judith Lerner: Sarah Adler
Olga Brodsky: Nade Dieu
Ramos Garcia: Rony Kramer
Indian: George Aguilar
Indian: Leticia Gutierrez
As themselves: Juan Goytisolo, Mahmoud Darwich, Jean-Paul Curnier, Gilles Pequeux, Pierre Bergounioux, Jean-Luc Godard.
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 80 minutes...
The film is beautifully shot and edited and largely accessible. Lovers of cinema will like it for its insights into the melding of text and images, and it will find a broader audience for its contribution to the debate on modern war.
The film is in three parts, each named for a Kingdom: Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. The first is a shattering montage of clips, still shots and bits of film showing the full catastrophe of war from a wide variety of sources, including such pictures as "Kiss Me Deadly", "Zulu" and "Apocalypse Now".
To the sound of a pounding piano, Godard mixes film textures, colors, close-ups and myriad images of everything from chariots to tanks, arrows to rockets and horses to jet fighters. The 12-minute masterpiece of filmmaking is an explosive display of war's carnage, banality and suffering. A young voice on the soundtrack needlessly observes, "It is terrible here".
In the second kingdom, Godard himself arrives in Sarajevo to join a group of celebrated writers and philosophers at a literary convention. They interact with fictional characters that include a young Russian Jewish woman named Olga, whose story provides the semblance of a plot line for the remainder of the film.
The strife in the Balkans is examined within sight of Sarajevo's Mostar Bridge, which is being reconstructed. "A survivor is not only changed, he's someone else," one man observes.
Each of the wise men has his moments onscreen. One says that communism has only ever existed once, on an English soccer field in 1953 when the Hungarian national team beat the English side 6-3. "The English played as individuals and lost," the philosopher remarks. "The Hungarians played as a team and won."
Godard spends time speaking of filmmaking, particularly the significance of following a shot by a countershot. When a student asks the 70-year-old legend if the digital camera will save cinema, Godard looks blank and makes no reply at all.
Memories of dreadful times and the ongoing threat of terror permeate the film. One character recalls a German Catholic girl who said in 1943 that the dream of the one is to become two, but the dream of the state is to become one. "They cut off her head", he says.
The horror and pointlessness of it all drives Olga to thoughts of suicide, and before the film brings its taste of heaven, the director will learn of her fate.
The melancholy approach to the subject extends to the self-portrait Godard provides. The firebrand of old is here a genial companion who smokes cigars and calls for champagne. In our last sight of him, he's tending his garden.
NOTRE MUSIQUE
A Peripheria production distributed by Les Films du Losange with international sales by Wild Bunch
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Jean-Luc Godard
Producers: Alain Sarde
Ruth Waldburger
Director of photography: Julien Hirsch
Art director: Anne-Marie Mieville. Cast: Judith Lerner: Sarah Adler
Olga Brodsky: Nade Dieu
Ramos Garcia: Rony Kramer
Indian: George Aguilar
Indian: Leticia Gutierrez
As themselves: Juan Goytisolo, Mahmoud Darwich, Jean-Paul Curnier, Gilles Pequeux, Pierre Bergounioux, Jean-Luc Godard.
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 80 minutes...
- 5/17/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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