VIFF 2024: To a Land Unknown
France, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Qatar | Mahdi Fleifel | English, ελληνικά, العربية | 105 minutes
Cousins Chatila (Mahmood Bakri) and Reda (Aram Sabbah), two Palestinian refugees stranded in Athens, turn to purse-snatching, shoplifting, and sex work to scrounge up funds for the fake passports they need to move their family to Germany. When Reda loses their savings to a heroin addiction relapse, Chatila devises a risky human smuggling scheme to make up the funds. The cousins soon find themselves on a slippery slope of moral compromise as they resort to taking three Syrian men hostage.
This outstanding crime thriller marks the narrative feature debut of documentarian Mahdi Fleifel (A World Not Ours). Cinematographer Thodoros Mihopoulos’ 16mm shots of Athens’ backstreets set the melancholy stage for the film’s excellent leads, Aram Sabbah, who embodies a boyish vulnerability as Reda, and Mahmood Bakri, who oscillates masterfully between tenderness and calculated bursts of intimidation. A heart-wrenching portrait of two wayward men desperate for the home they can’t return to, To A Land Unknown casts an unflinching eye on the trauma of Palestinian exile.
Friday, October 4
4:00 pm
Advance tickets HERE
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VIFF thanks the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations for their continued stewardship of the unceded and occupied land on which our work takes place. As an organization founded and predominantly directed by settlers and immigrants, we understand our responsibility to seek out and build authentic relationships with Indigenous communities, and to allow this ongoing dialogue to influence our practices. As part of this process, we remain committed to collaborating with and supporting Indigenous artists, filmmakers, curators, and audiences.
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