If Elia Suleiman has brilliantly established himself over the years as the Palestinian director and storyteller who told the world what it’s like to be an Arab Palestinian living in Israel, his countryman Mahdi Fleifel can safely be described as the filmmaker profile of Palestinians exiled in Europe after the Arab Spring.
After seven short films narrating aspects of life of Palestinian immigrants aspiring for a better future in Europe, the Danish-Palestinian director has a firstborn feature world-premiering in the Directors’ Fortnight. It is set in Athens, where two Palestinian refugees, Chatila (Mahmood Bakri from Alam and The Teacher) and Reda (Aram Sabbah), are waiting to move west.
Coming to Athens from Lebanon’s Ayn al-Hilweh camp [where the director’s parents were born], the two young men are hustling to save enough money to get fake passports to enter Germany, where they are planning to open a cafe in an Arab neighborhood and have Chatila’s wife Nabila (still in Lebanon) be in charge of the food. For Chatila and Reda, Germany and that cafe are the equivalent of the prophetic farm that George Milton and Lennie Small wanted to build in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men.
Known for being non-judgmental about what a refugee does to survive, whether it’s taking on sex work or trafficking narcotics, Fleifel does not present his characters as victims. There is no sensational oud music or flashback to olive trees, but rather hardcore Palestinian rap and schemes to get paid. There is nothing romantic about exile, and exiled humans are not prophets. Chatila and Reda resort to pickpocketing the hand bags of elderly ladies in the park and snatching cameras from lost tourists, saving euro after euro to secure enough money for fake passports to travel to Germany.
Both characters seem the same — until the stash of money they hide in disappears. Chatila shows he is the dominant one, a sweet talker and pragmatist who will stop at nothing. Reda is a more fragile yes-man, weakened by addiction and homesickness. Chatila berates him for taking the money to buy heroin. But in exile and in this dog-eat-dog world, a friend can be home. Both Bakri and Sabbah (cast just days before shooting began) are great in showing that sacrifice and friendship are rescue boats.
Their plot to secure cash comes back to life, when the duo meet Malik, a Palestinian child coming from Gaza, who wants to head to Italy where his aunt lives. Chatila stages a scheme to traffic Malik, sending him on a plane to Italy with a Greek woman (Angeliki Papoulia) who will impersonate his mother, in exchange for money. When that fails, evil genius Chatila does not stop, tailoring another con job, paving the way for the film’s masterfully filmed conclusion.
Even characters with less screen time are impeccable. Monzer Reyahnah is brilliant playing a trafficker and documents forger who both wants to help fellow Arabs and at the same time make lots of money. The dusty, closed, wet bathrooms, dimly-lit spaces and abandoned warehouses with bunk beds where most of the film is shot illustrate the refugees’ constant state of despair.
Fleifel’s influences are many, from 1970’s Hollywood to Palestinian poetry to American novels, as he readily admits in his interviews, but To A Land Unknown is unique in its brutal realism; a heartbreaking tribute to exiled people.
Fleifel begins the film with a quote from the bold advocate of the Palestinian cause, Eduard Said, about how Palestinians are destined to remain scattered around the world. It is indeed difficult to watch To a Land Unknown with an optimistic eye, while knowing that what is now happening in Gaza will certainly lead to the obliteration of the war-torn strip, increasing immigration in a never-ending tragedy.
With distribution already secured in MENA and France, To a Land Unknown is expected to tour several festivals and win awards. From an industry standpoint, it is a solid refugee drama without direct mention of the Gaza war (a sensitive issue for some European markets), making it attractive for U.S. and European cities with large MENA diasporas, and of course Arab festivals and independent cinemas.
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Screenwriters: Mahdi Fleifel, Fyzal Boulifa, Jason McColgan
Cast: Mahmood Bakri, Aram Sabbagh, Mohammad Alsurafa, Angeliki Papoulia, Mouataz Alshalton, Mohammad Ghassan, Monzer Reyahnah
Producers: Mahdi Fleifel, Geoff Arbourne
Cinematography: Thodoris Mihopoulos
Editing: Halim Sabbagh
Production design: Ioanna Soulele
Music: Nadah El Shazly
Production company: Inside Out Films, Nakba Filmworks
World sales: Salaud Morisset
Venue: Cannes Film Festival (Directors’ Fortnight)
In Arabic, English, Greek
105 minutes
