Dégradé
+9 Days
+Palestine / Syria
Saturday, 10/1 at St. Anthony Main Theatre
10:00 p.m.
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Dégradé
Arab and Tarzan Nasser
narrative feature / drama
84 mins / 2015
Palestine / France / Qatar
Arabic with English subtitles
Minnesota premiere
DCP
The Gaza Strip, a stolen lion, and the resurgence of old conflict are the backdrop to this play-like drama. Most of the action in Dégradé takes place inside Christine’s beauty shop on a busy summer day. It is claustrophobic, hot, and full of clients from all walks of life. This stressful work day is intensified by gunfire across the street, and trapped in the salon, the characters’ stories unfold. According to the directors, Arab and Tarzan Nasser, this film is inspired by growing up in Gaza: it depicts a story of everyday experience in the small plot of occupied land, “absurd and prohibitive.” The film’s cramped spaces and notable color palate capture these sentiments, while the characters bring humor and humanity to the screen.
Facebook
facebook.com/filmdegrade
Review
www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/degrade-cannes-review-796559
Arab and Tarzan Nasser are budding filmmakers and identical twins born in Gaza. In 2010, they received the A.M. Qattan Foundation’s prestigious Young Artist of the Year Award for the conceptual artwork, Gazawood, a series of mock-Hollywood posters for imaginary films named after real Israeli military offenses on Gaza. Their 2013 short Condom Lead screened at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as the 2015 iteration of the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival.
Festivals and Awards
*World Premiere, Cannes Film Festival, Critic’s Week, France, 2015
*North American Premiere, Toronto International Film Festival, Canada, 2015
*BFI Film Festival, London, 2015
*Chicago Palestine Film Festival, USA, 2016
9 Days—From My Window in Aleppo
Issa Touma
with Floor van der Meulen and Thomas Vroege
documentary short / war / human rights
13 mins / 2015
Netherlands / Syria
Arabic with English subtitles
Minnesota premiere
DCP
One morning in August 2012, renowned Syrian photographer Issa Touma saw young men lugging sandbags outside his home. It was the start of the Syrian uprising on his street in the city of Aleppo. Touma grabbed his camera and spent nine days besieged in his apartment, recording what was going on outside. The result is an unprecedented glimpse into a war that has been raging for over five years.
Facebook
facebook.com/9daysfrommywindowinaleppo/
Twitter: @9daysfrommywindowinaleppo
Interview with Touma
vimeo.com/158181766
Festivals and Awards
*International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film, Germany, 2015
*International Short Film Festival Winterthur, Switzerland, 2015
*International Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2016
*Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, France, 2016
Floor van der Meulen is a Dutch filmmaker currently based in Amsterdam. Together with producer KeyDocs and Dutch broadcaster BNNVARA, she made Storming Paradise and is developing her first fiction film.
Thomas Vroege is a filmmaker based in Amsterdam. He directed the documentary film So Help Me God and worked as an editor on the documentary film installation Oil & Paradise by Ad Nuis.
Issa Touma is a photographer based in Aleppo, Syria. In 1996 he established Le Pont, a gallery and workshop for photography, and in 1997, he started the International Photography Festival in Aleppo. His work can be found in international collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
