The Time We Meet

A man enjoys his morning tea in his home, located in the Palestinian village of Meiroun. He is then interrupted by a taciturn stranger taking pictures of his home. Despite the man’s multiple attempts to converse with the stranger, the latter maintains his silence. The man sits next to the stranger, reading him a poem by the Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish, and then invites him in for a game of backgammon. As they play, the man loses three rounds to the stranger, yet he only grows more determined regardless of his loss. In the end, the man halts the game and gives the stranger a lesson about the true meaning of heritage and rightful ownership. The stranger wins the third round, symbolizing the ongoing Palestinian struggle.

Fez Summer '55

Summer 1955. Kamal, an 11 year old boy of the Medina of Fez, is experiencing the last months before Morocco’s independence. In contact to Aïcha and her fellow students of the Qaraouiyine university, he discovers and takes part in the fight for freedom. The director says, “My movie puts forward the question of identity and the end of colonialism through the innocent eyes of a boy. Through Kamal we discover a millennial’s Moroccan culture and the dignity of a people in their painful yet essential quest for independence. This is about coming of age, this is about women’s empowerment, passion and repression, violence and dignity, fears and hopes of a people struggling for freedom.”