When I Saw You (Lamma Shoftak)
Hilal - ages 13+
Annemarie Jacir / Feature Narrative / Palestine, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Greece / 2012 / 93 min / Colour / DCP
In Arabic / English subtitles
Interests: Middle Eastern, History, Youth, Adventure, Family, Friendship
Qatar Premiere
Synopsis
In Competition
Jordan 1967: Eleven-year-old Tarek is one of thousands of refugees pouring across the border from Palestine. Stranded with his mother in a camp, he spends his days playing with bricks and ants, standing in line for plates of food, or waiting for the arrival of trucks that could be carrying his father. Tarek hates this life – his dumb teacher, the slimy food and, most of all, the patience of the other refugees. When he meets an older woman who has been in the camp for more than two decades, he decides it’s time to leave. He finds his way to a training camp of Fedayeen determined to win their land back, and when his mother tracks him down there, she senses that this rebel group is giving her son new hope.
In a contained setting, ‘When I Saw You’ tells the story of a willful boy who refuses to give up his dreams of returning home. Director Annemarie Jacir’s point of view on the occupation is clear, but rather than providing an explicit political statement about the current situation in the West Bank or Gaza, she focuses on the paradigmatic, unyielding desire of a Palestinian kid in the late 60s to go home and be with his father.
About the Directors
Annemarie Jacir has written, directed and produced more than 14 films. Named one of ‘Filmmaker’ magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Cinema, two of her films have premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, one in Venice and one in Berlin. Her first feature, ‘Salt of this Sea’ (2008), premiered in Cannes and was Palestine’s 2008 Oscar entry. In 2011, renowned Chinese director Zhang Yimou selected her to be his first protégée. ‘When I Saw You’ won the NETPAC Award at the Berlin International Film Festival and a Special Award at the Cairo International Film Festival.
Credits
- Director
- Annemarie Jacir
- Screenwriter
- Annemarie Jacir
- Producer
- Ossama Bawardi
- Editor
- Panos Voutsaros, Annemarie Jacir
- Music
- Kamran Rastegar
- Cinematographer
- Helene Louvart
- Sales Company
- The Match Factory
- Production Company
- Philistine Films
- Cast
- Mahmoud Asfa, Saleh Bakri, Ruba Blal