HIFF - Short films: Experimental - 5.5

A day in the life of a spoon takes a dramatic turn as the common kitchen utensil becomes the key catalyst of a prison escape story.

 
Paradiso XXXI 108| Directed by Kamal AlJaafari
Aljafari’s new film takes its title from a brief story by Borges, one that considers our collective inability to know God by sight. To play against this concept, Aljafari presents footage of the Israeli military conducting maneuvers in the desert. 

 
The return of Osiris | Directed by Essa Grayib 
After the loss of the 1967 War, then-Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, appeared in front of his people and gave an iconic speech. There he announced the defeat, as well as his resignation. For many, this marked the doom of the Arab nationalism that Nasser himself had led and inspired. 
The Return of Osiris re-examines this moment through its dramatization in dozens of Egyptian films and television series produced between 1976 and 2016. The found footage was edited to reconstruct Nasser’s resignation speech according to the original text. 

 With love from Palestine (postcard from the future) By Annemarie Jacir
Commissioned by the Locarno Film Festival for its 75th anniversary under the title “Postcards from the Future”, eleven renowned personalities from international cinema were invited to produce short films to be screened in the Piazza Grande, one of the largest screens in the world, as a postcard from their country.  “With love from Palestine" is Annemarie Jacir’s contribution to the project.