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Dreams and Ghosts (shorts programme) (18*)

London Palestine Film Festival

,Cinema 3
A person overlooks a city

In this selection of films, characters face the visible versus the invisible. In a world where the past is always present, a yearning for a better future leads the way.

Loss, memories of prison, and yearning for normality are some of the experiences at the centre of these five short films. This curated selection touches on the ghostly and the unseen, whether it is a past that can’t be reckoned with, or a future that is only imaginable.  

Brought to us by fresh talent from Palestine and around the world, these accomplished dramas present a new crop of promising young filmmakers.  Wissam AlJafari brings us yet another atmospheric drama; Ward Kayyal, Rakkan Maysi and Saif Hammash present poetic takes on dark memories; and finally, Nour Ben Salem and Julien Menanteau, replace the apartheid wall with an air of hope.  

Total film running-time: 87 min (approx.) 

Tagged with: Cinema New releases London Palestine Film Festival 2024

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Programme

By the Sea (Palestine 2022 Dir Wisam Al Jafari 12 min)   
Struggling with both the occupation and the pandemic, a woman left alone with her son insists on having a semblance of normalcy by baking a cake to mark a special occasion. This film is an original take on a woman’s fight to keep her family together, taking extreme risks under unusual circumstances and against all odds. 

Hamza: Chasing the Ghost Chasing Me (Palestine 2022 Dir Ward Kayyal 18 min)  
After recovering from his illness, Hamza returns to the forest to hunt a vicious lion  that devours his memory. He refuses to abandon this routine, which he has kept since his release from Israeli jail. Every day, he goes into the woods to hunt a lion that his community don't believe exists. He finds refuge from social rejection and denial in his daily journey. In the woods, Hamza is free to act according to his own mind, fighting his battle to heal an open wound — the trauma of losing his childhood friend, and the horrific memories of torture and guilt. 

Palestine Islands (France/Jordan 2023 Dirs Nour Ben Salem and Julien Menanteau 22 min)  
Maha, 12, is part of the latest generation of Palestinian refugees from the Balata camp. Following a health scare from her blind grandfather, she imagines a crazy project: to make him believe that the wall of separation has fallen and that a return to his native land is possible. With the help of her friends from the camp, the young girl imagines a fantastical trip for him.  

The Key (Palestine/Belgium/Qatar/France 2023 Dir Rakan Mayasi 19 min) 

An Israeli family hears a mysterious sound every night at the door of their apartment. Unable to sleep, their calm begins to disintegrate. The Key is a political and psychological thriller, based on the short story of the same name by Palestinian novelist and poet, Anwar Hamed. The key, the central element of the film, represents the Palestinians' right of return. The film plays on this notion, like an epidemic spreading through the Israeli subconscious creating a growing sense of guilt and worry. 

The Deer's Tooth (Palestine 2024 Dir Saif Hammash 16 min)  
Wisam, a young Palestinian from Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem, longs to escape his guilt and isolation after his brother’s death. He spends his days in a state of numbness. When he finds his brother’s last tooth, he remembers a promise to toss it into the sea, a place he is not allowed to go. He decides to honour his brother’s wish, even if it means risking his life.  

Cinema 3