Beirut Eye of the Storm

Beirut Eye of the Storm - 2021

75 min min - Documentary
Number: 22
Show: Saturday 11 November, 16:00, Hagabion Sal 1 | Tuesday 14 November, 18:30, Folkets Hus Hammarkullen
Director:  Mai Masri
Stars: 

Storyline

In October 2019, four progressive women are documenting the uprising in Beirut. They are journalist Hanine, Iraqi camerawoman Lujain, and Noel and Michelle, two artist sisters whose often-ironic songs have made them a voice for their generation. The prevailing mood is one of hope and change. But a few months later, Covid-19 has locked down the city, and all optimism seems to have evaporated. This non-chronological account of a tumultuous period in recent Lebanese history loops back and forth between uprising and lockdown, with the four women calling one another and the film's director, Mai Masri, on video. They express their opinions about current events and place them into a historical perspective, offering glimpses into their personal lives. The devastating blow of the explosion at the Port of Beirut was still to come just ten months after the uprising. Will the young women be able to hold onto their dream of a new Lebanon? Four young women in Beirut document a turbulent period in recent Lebanese history, from the uprising against the ruling regime to the subsequent lockdown and then, just months later, the gigantic explosion at the port.


Collections: EFF-23

Genres: Documentary

Details

Country:  Lebanon
Language:  Arabic, English text

Company Credits

Production Companies:  Nour Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:  1 h 15 min

Tearing Walls Down

Tearing Walls Down - 2023

50 min min - Documentary
Number: 21
Show: Saturday 11 November, 21:30, Hagabion Sal 1
Director:  Hebun Polat, Şerif Çiçek
Stars: 

Storyline

In Turkey, opposition politicians who oppose the state apparatus face violence, agitation, and repression, and they are being dismissed, persecuted, and imprisoned. Since November 4, 2016, When Erdoğan's AKP party came to power, hundreds of opposition politicians have been jailed or forced into exile to silence them. This film shows the struggle of four Kurdish women politicians, Figen Yüksekdağ, Gültan Kışanak, Aysel Tuğluk, and Sibel Yiğitalp, whose "Crime" was to fight for a hopeful and pluralistic world against an anti-democratic government.


Collections: EFF-23

Genres: Documentary

Details

Country:  Germany,  Turkey
Language:  Kurdish, English text

Company Credits

Production Companies: 

Technical Specs

Runtime:  0 h 50 min

When the Seedlings Grow-Gava Sitil Mezin Dibin

When the Seedlings Grow-Gava Sitil Mezin Dibin - 2022

83 min min - Fiction
Number: 20
Show: Saturday 11 November, 21:30, Hagabion Sal 1 | Monday 13 November, 18:30, Angereds Bio
Director:  Rêger Azad
Stars: 

Storyline

While selling yogurt in Kobanê, Hüseyin and his daughter Zelal are on their way to intersect with Hemudê, who is looking for his home. Their one-day journey witnesses many misfortunes and a new society after the Kobanê war.


Collections: EFF-23

Genres: Fiction

Details

Country:  Kobane,  Germany
Language:  Kurdish, Arabic, English text

Company Credits

Production Companies:  Rojava Film Commune

Technical Specs

Runtime:  1 h 23 min

Kobane

Özlem Yasar - 2022

158 min min - Fiction
Number: 19
Show: Sunday 12 November, 16:00, Hagabion Sal 1 | Wednesday 15 November, 18:30, Viktoriasalen
Director:  Özlem Yasar
Stars: 

Storyline

Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, a female Kurdish fighter guides her fellow fighters in the resistance to defend their city, Kobane, from the deadly threat of ISIS. A real story of war, sacrifice, love, and hope.


Collections: EFF-23

Genres: Fiction

Details

Country:  Syria
Language:  Kurdish, English text

Company Credits

Production Companies:  Rojava Film Commune

Technical Specs

Runtime:  2 h 38 min

Women Talking

Women Talking - 2022

104 min min - Fiction
Number: 18
Show: Sunday 12 November, 19:00, Hagabion Sal 1
Director:  Sarah Polley
Stars: 

Storyline

The women of an isolated religious community grapple with reconciling their reality with their faith. Through the backstory, we see a community of women come together to figure out how they might move forward together to build a better world for themselves and their children. Stay and fight or leave. They will do nothing.


Collections: EFF-23

Genres: Fiction

Details

Country:  USA
Language:  English, English text

Company Credits

Production Companies: 

Technical Specs

Runtime:  1 h 44 min

The Cat

The Cat - 2020

13 min min - Animation
Number: 17
Show: Monday 13 November, 18:30, Angereds Bio | Tuesday 14 November, 21:00, Hagabion Sal 1 Wednesday 15 November, 18:30, Selma Lagerlöfs Center
Director:  Mary Apick
Stars: 

Storyline

A little girl is selling flowers - until her world is enveloped by malevolent darkness. She is forced to flee as the world around her is destroyed. This is a parable about life in Iran since the Revolution.


Collections: EFF-23

Genres: Animation

Details

Country:  USA
Language:  English, English text

Company Credits

Production Companies: 

Technical Specs

Runtime:  0 h 13 min

Seven Winter in Tehran

Seven Winter in Tehran - 2023

97 min min - Documentary
Number: 16
Show: Friday 10 November, 18:30, Bio Roy | Tuesday 14 November, 21:00, Hagabion Sal 1
Director:  Steffi Niederzoll
Stars: 

Storyline

Tehran, July 2007: Reyhaneh Jabbari, 19, has a business meeting with a new client. When he tries to rape her, she stabs him in self-defense. Later that day, she is arrested for murder. Her trial resulted in a death penalty sentence. Thanks to personal and secretly recorded videos provided by Reyhaneh's family, their testimonies, and the letters written by Reyhaneh in prison, the film retraces the fate of a woman who becomes a symbol of resistance and women's rights even beyond the borders of Iran.


Collections: EFF-23

Genres: Documentary

Details

Country:  France,  Germany
Language:  Persian, English text

Company Credits

Production Companies:  Made In Germany Filmproduktion, Gloria Films, TS Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:  1 h 37 min

Sabaya

Sabaya - 2021

90 min min - Documentary
Number: 15
Show: Monday 13 November, 21:00, Hagabion Sal 1
Director:  Hogir Hirori
Stars: 

Storyline

The film follows a group in Syria's Al-Hol, a dangerous camp in the Middle East, as they risk their lives to save a woman being held by ISIS as an abducted sex slave.


Collections: EFF-23

Genres: Documentary

Details

Country:  Sweden
Language:  Kurdish, Arabic, English text

Company Credits

Production Companies: 

Technical Specs

Runtime:  1 h 30 min

Mina – The Price of Freedom

Mina - The Price of Freedom - 2022

70 min min - Documentary
Number: 14
Show: Wednesday 15 November, 18:30, Selma Lagerlöfs Center
Director:  Hesam Yousefi
Stars: 

Storyline

The documentary "Mina – The Price of Freedom" portrays Mina Ahadi, an Iranian human rights activist who now lives in Cologne. Mina has been fighting against executions and stoning’s in Iran for decades – and thus became a target of the regime herself. After massive campaigns by numerous activists for civil and political rights worldwide, including Mina, the pressure of world opinion forced the regime of religious fundamentalism that rules Iran to stop the execution of stoning sentences. An example in this context was the stoning of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani. The portrait is made by Hesam Yousefi, an Iranian human rights activist who lives in exile in Germany.


Collections: EFF-23

Genres: Documentary

Details

Country:  Germany
Language:  Persian, Kurdi, German, English text

Company Credits

Production Companies: 

Technical Specs

Runtime:  1 h 10 min

Kebab Connection

Kebab Connection - 1998

100 min min - Fiction
Number: 13
Show: Tuesday 14 November, 18:30, Hagabion Sal 2
Director:  Hiner Saleem
Stars: 

Storyline

Cheto, a Kurd political refugee living in Paris, has a French girlfriend named Christine. Cheto wants to get married, but not with Christine. What he´s looking for is a beautiful Kurdish virgin and patriot! Video camera in hand, his friend Misto goes to Kurdistan for the ideal candidate. Having found the lucky beauty, the marriage is arranged. But it´s not the chosen bride who shows up in Paris.


Collections: EFF-23

Genres: Fiction

Details

Country:  Kurdistan
Language:  Kurdish, French, English text

Company Credits

Production Companies:  Les Film du Rivage, Les Studio Canal+, Le Bureau Les Film De Lóust Paradise

Technical Specs

Runtime:  1 h 40 min