A World Not Ours
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Palestine, Lebanon, UAE | Arabic, English 2012 | 93min | Colour Subtitles: English
Friday, Oct 31 Club House 1, 11:00 AM
A World Not Ours is an intimate, humorous, portrait of three generations of exile in the refugee camp of Ein el-Helweh, in southern Lebanon. Based on a wealth of personal recordings, family archives, and historical footage, the film is a sensitive, and illuminating study of belonging, friendship, and family.
Filmed over more than 20 years by multiple generations of the same family, A World Not Ours is more than just a family portrait; it is an attempt to record what is being forgotten, and mark what should not be erased from collective memory.
Mahdi Fleifel
Mahdi Fleifel is a Palestinian filmmaker and visual artist based in London. While he was born in Dubai and mostly raised in Denmark, Mahdi has always felt that the Ain el-Helweh refugee camp in Lebanon is his home. When he would return from summer holidays spent in the camp, he found himself unable to explain what this place was like to the other children in his class — this left him with a compulsion to tell the stories of his family and friends who still live there. Over the years, he picked up his father’s obsession with recording. Through the camera, Mahdi found he could put the camp in context, and better understand the lives of those living there. To film is to secure his identity, and the memory of where he comes from. He graduated from the British National Film and Television School in 2009. His short films have screened at numerous festivals around the world and have won many best film awards. ‘A World Not Ours’ is his debut feature film. Mahdi will be developing his second feature at the Cannes’ Cinefondation residence starting in March 2013.
Credits
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Producer: Mahdi Fleifel, Patrick Campbell
Screenwriter: Mahdi Fleifel
Cinematographer: Mahdi Fleifel
Editor: Michael Aaglung
Music: Jon Opstad
Production Company: Nakba FilmWorks
Festival Appearances & Awards
Berlinale Panorama, 2013
Peace Film Award One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, 2013
Special Mention from the Grand
Jury Reykjavik Shorts & Docs Festival, 2013
Best Newcomer Award Fidadoc, Morocco, 2013
Grand Prix, Audience Award DOK.fest Munich, 2013
DOK.horizonte Award DOC NYC, 2013
Grand Jury Prize CPH:DOX, 2013
Reel Talent Award Abu Dhabi Film Festival, 2012
Black Pearl Award, Fipresci Award, Netpac Award Transilvania International Film Festival, 2013
São Paulo International Film Festival, 2013
International Film Festival of India in Goa, 2013