Arab Film Festival: Nine screenings in South Korea
Nine feature films and documentaries participate in the twelfth session of the “Arab Film Festival” in South Korea, which started last Thursday evening and continues until the thirteenth of this month, organized by the “Korean Arab Society”.
According to the traditions of the event, which was established in 2009, the participating works are displayed in Busan, the country’s second most populous city, for the first four days, before we move to the capital; Seoul, and it will start showing in the “Momo Art House” starting from this evening until the sixth of this month, then the third phase will begin by making all films available on the “Never TV” screen, and via the Internet.
The selected films this year were produced during the past three years, as the festival opened with the Egyptian film “Kira Wal Jinn” (2022) written by Ahmed Murad and directed by Marwan Hamed. Through forgotten heroes who fought daring battles and sacrifices for independence.
The film “A Crossroads: All Roads Lead to Rome” (2022) by the Lebanese director Lara Saba will also be shown, and it tells the story of a famous Lebanese actor competing with an Italian actor to present the character of the Pope when he was young in an international film, and before meeting the supreme pontiff to choose between them he goes to Qannoubine Valley to get away from the noise of his life. Coincidence leads him to spend his isolation in a nunnery, and there he meets an attractive girl, to start a series of funny adventures that bring him back to the simplicity and essence of life, and put him in front of choices that change the course of his life.
In his film “Heliopolis” (2022), Algerian director Jaafar Kassem deals with the massacres of May 8, 1945, when the French occupation forces committed killings against the Algerian people, and included most parts of Algeria, including the cities of Setif, Msila, Guelma, Kharta, and Souk Ahras, after the French police suppressed the demonstrations. In which.
The Palestinian director also participates in her movie “Mediterranean Fever” (2023), which takes place in Haifa with Walid, a writer who has not yet written his first novel, but he is trying, despite his apparent stumbling for several reasons, and he also suffers from severe depression, which seems chronic, but he does not persevere. He refuses to attend treatment sessions, and refuses to take the medication given to him by his psychiatrist, because he feels that there is no benefit.
In addition to the participation of the films “Al-Hara” (2021) by Jordanian director Basil Ghandour, “Al-Zij” (2021) by Omani director Salah Al-Hadrami, “Between the Sands” (2022) by Saudi director Muhammad Al-Atawi, and “Al-Drouj” (2022) by Omani director Hamid. Al Amri.
