Soudade Kaadan’s second feature is a sweet-natured and beautifully photographed portrait of a grumpy middle-aged guy, his sceptical wife and their teenage daughter
Here is the second feature from Syrian film-maker Soudade Kaadan, set in a Damascus suburb during the most brutal shelling of the civil war, among the remaining traumatised residents wondering whether to stay or leave as refugees heading for the Mediterranean. The resonant title means “displacement” and her images of the city, modified with some magic-realist effects, are very striking.
A middle-aged guy, Motaz (Samer al-Masry) is grumpily asserting his authority in front of his increasingly sceptical family: his wife is Hala (Kinda Alloush) and they are parents to teen daughter Zeina (Hala Zein), who is incidentally conspiring with her mother to suppress the news that she has started her period. She also likes a certain boy who keeps coming around – budding film-maker Amer (Nizar Alani...
Here is the second feature from Syrian film-maker Soudade Kaadan, set in a Damascus suburb during the most brutal shelling of the civil war, among the remaining traumatised residents wondering whether to stay or leave as refugees heading for the Mediterranean. The resonant title means “displacement” and her images of the city, modified with some magic-realist effects, are very striking.
A middle-aged guy, Motaz (Samer al-Masry) is grumpily asserting his authority in front of his increasingly sceptical family: his wife is Hala (Kinda Alloush) and they are parents to teen daughter Zeina (Hala Zein), who is incidentally conspiring with her mother to suppress the news that she has started her period. She also likes a certain boy who keeps coming around – budding film-maker Amer (Nizar Alani...
- 4/30/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The divination ritual of reading a coffee cup goes back hundreds and even thousands of years. Despite the uncertainty behind its origin and how it began, Arabs have been practicing this ritual since ancient times, and it's one of the traditions that most expresses Arab identity and is usually ever-present in evening coffee sessions among women in particular, with older women usually doing the divination. When it comes to how the ritual must be performed, there are a few rules. The coffee itself needs to be Arabic or Turkish and needs to be poured into cups with white interiors that come with saucers. Then the saucer must be placed on top of the cup after finishing the drink, sloshing the covered remains thrice clockwise, then inverting the cup onto the saucer and letting the coffee sediments settle for a few minutes. Amal Al-Agroobi implements the ritual as the base of her 9-minutes short,...
- 4/2/2024
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Exclusive: Yasmina El-Abd has signed with David Unger’s Artist International Group (Aig) for U.S. representation.
The rising Mena actress is currently starring in Mbc Studios’ ground breaking Arabic-language musical feature Sukkar, which is due to hit streamer Shahid on December 24 following a strong box office run that began in October. She is signed up to star in a follow up, we hear.
El-Abd has also had parts in Middle Eastern Netflix original Finding Ola and HBO Max and Cbbc kids series Theodosia, and is co-starring in Adi Hasak’s upcoming James Franco series Karantina, which has Adi TV Studios, Dynamic Television, Mbc, Zdf, Asacha Media Group, Blond and Tanweer attached.
She is also reprise her role as Zeina in season 2 of the Netflix’s Egyptian comedy-drama Finding Ola. Season 1 launched in February 2022 and made it into the Top 10 worldwide and topped the charts in the Arab-speaking world for three weeks.
The rising Mena actress is currently starring in Mbc Studios’ ground breaking Arabic-language musical feature Sukkar, which is due to hit streamer Shahid on December 24 following a strong box office run that began in October. She is signed up to star in a follow up, we hear.
El-Abd has also had parts in Middle Eastern Netflix original Finding Ola and HBO Max and Cbbc kids series Theodosia, and is co-starring in Adi Hasak’s upcoming James Franco series Karantina, which has Adi TV Studios, Dynamic Television, Mbc, Zdf, Asacha Media Group, Blond and Tanweer attached.
She is also reprise her role as Zeina in season 2 of the Netflix’s Egyptian comedy-drama Finding Ola. Season 1 launched in February 2022 and made it into the Top 10 worldwide and topped the charts in the Arab-speaking world for three weeks.
- 12/18/2023
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
As we honour International Women’s Day for Peace and Disarmament on May 24, we delve into the world of Canada’s top 10 emerging female artists.
One thing every Canadian can agree on is that we have no shortage of musical talent – that being said, with the number of artists in the country, it definitely takes a lot of work to stand out from the crowd. Female musicians in particular are steadily on the rise with artists across the nation tapping into the power of social media to grow their fan bases, and it’s totally working. Canada has produced some of the world’s best artists, and now, coast-to-coast we’re seeing a new generation of chart-toppers stepping into the limelight.
Read on for 10 of our favourite emerging Canadian female artists you should add to your playlists (so you can say you were an early fan).
Read More: 15 Asian Canadian...
One thing every Canadian can agree on is that we have no shortage of musical talent – that being said, with the number of artists in the country, it definitely takes a lot of work to stand out from the crowd. Female musicians in particular are steadily on the rise with artists across the nation tapping into the power of social media to grow their fan bases, and it’s totally working. Canada has produced some of the world’s best artists, and now, coast-to-coast we’re seeing a new generation of chart-toppers stepping into the limelight.
Read on for 10 of our favourite emerging Canadian female artists you should add to your playlists (so you can say you were an early fan).
Read More: 15 Asian Canadian...
- 5/24/2023
- by Etcanadadigital
- ET Canada
A Syrian war film with a difference, Nezouh is a delicate and engrossing entry in Venice’s Horizons Extra section. Director Soudade Kaadan won Lion of the Future for 2018’s The Day I Lost My Shadow, and she continues to impress with this empathetic story of life under siege.
The focus is 14-year-old Zeina (Hala Zein), who lives in Damascus with her mother Hala (Kinda Alloush) and father Motaz (Samir al-Masri). Motaz is trying to keep the family together as the walls crumble around them and their neighbors flee, but his wife would rather become displaced than see him risk his life foraging in the war-torn streets. She seems even less keen to see Zeina married off to a fighter, as her other daughters have been, while a worse fate could await young women who stay.
When an explosion blasts holes through their walls and ceiling, Motaz busies himself hanging up flowery sheets,...
The focus is 14-year-old Zeina (Hala Zein), who lives in Damascus with her mother Hala (Kinda Alloush) and father Motaz (Samir al-Masri). Motaz is trying to keep the family together as the walls crumble around them and their neighbors flee, but his wife would rather become displaced than see him risk his life foraging in the war-torn streets. She seems even less keen to see Zeina married off to a fighter, as her other daughters have been, while a worse fate could await young women who stay.
When an explosion blasts holes through their walls and ceiling, Motaz busies himself hanging up flowery sheets,...
- 9/10/2022
- by Anna Smith
- Deadline Film + TV
This review of “Costa Brava, Lebanon” was first published July 14, 2022, before it opened in New York City.
Mounia Akl’s debut feature film “Costa Brava, Lebanon” is valiant filmmaking. Using the beauty of cinema to show the destruction of man’s cruelty to the environment is not just effective — it’s heartbreaking.
In a film landscape dominated by blockbusters, “Costa Brava, Lebanon” offers a reality check, reminding us that there are indeed concerns bigger than our own entertainment. It’s indie filmmaking at its most productive.
Set in Akl’s native Lebanon, whose political and environmental unrest helps drive the plot, “Costa Brava, Lebanon,” co-written with Clara Roquet (“10.000 Km”), draws us in with the charming Bardi family, who has gone off the grid. For eight years, husband and wife Walid and Souraya (Oscar-nominated “Capernaum” director Nadine Labaki) have lived in the mountains with their two girls — Rim (twins Seana and...
Mounia Akl’s debut feature film “Costa Brava, Lebanon” is valiant filmmaking. Using the beauty of cinema to show the destruction of man’s cruelty to the environment is not just effective — it’s heartbreaking.
In a film landscape dominated by blockbusters, “Costa Brava, Lebanon” offers a reality check, reminding us that there are indeed concerns bigger than our own entertainment. It’s indie filmmaking at its most productive.
Set in Akl’s native Lebanon, whose political and environmental unrest helps drive the plot, “Costa Brava, Lebanon,” co-written with Clara Roquet (“10.000 Km”), draws us in with the charming Bardi family, who has gone off the grid. For eight years, husband and wife Walid and Souraya (Oscar-nominated “Capernaum” director Nadine Labaki) have lived in the mountains with their two girls — Rim (twins Seana and...
- 7/21/2022
- by Ronda Racha Penrice
- The Wrap
The dystopian future, once a favored subject of science fiction, is quickly becoming the present. To use the devastatingly apt metaphor guiding Mounia Akl’s brilliant first feature “Costa Brava, Lebanon,” it’s dropping its shit on our doorstep. Energized by a charming ensemble of intimately compelling characters, its sharply focused metaphor never strays too far from the human element. Working with powerhouse performances from Oscar-nominated Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki and Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri, Mounia Akl comes out swinging as the next big thing in Middle Eastern cinema.
The film tells the story of the Bakri family, who live on a lush self-sufficient homestead on the outskirts of Beirut. Opening with a pointedly vague title card — “Lebanon, in a near future” — a newscast informs us that Beirut is in the midst of a waste crisis. It’s been happening since 2015, with ongoing protests over corruption and government inefficiency filling the city’s streets daily.
The film tells the story of the Bakri family, who live on a lush self-sufficient homestead on the outskirts of Beirut. Opening with a pointedly vague title card — “Lebanon, in a near future” — a newscast informs us that Beirut is in the midst of a waste crisis. It’s been happening since 2015, with ongoing protests over corruption and government inefficiency filling the city’s streets daily.
- 7/15/2022
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
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