Birds Like Us (Ptice kao mi)
Ajyal Competition - Ajyal Youth Film Festival 2017
Faruk Šabanović, Amela Ćuhara / Feature Narrative / Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America, Qatar / 2017 / 84 min / Colour / DCP / In English / Arabic subtitles / MENA Premiere
Rated: Mature subject matter which may not be suitable for minors. Parental guidance is strongly advised.Individuals under the age of 15 are not admitted into cinemas.
Synopsis
In the middle of a vast desert where The Horror holds sway, a society of flightless birds exists, tucked away in Birdabad, a giant tree. The birds are of two sorts: carnivores and fruit-eaters. Their fascistic leader, a vulture named Kondor, long ago instituted a gruesome ritual named the Egguilibrium, in which the fruit-eating birds hand over their eggs to the meat-eaters in exchange for fruit. One day, the lovely Huppu and her husband Hassan defy the system in order to save their rare chick, and a dreamlike adventure begins as the couple, Kondor and a chick named Mi are ejected from Birdabad.
There, they meet a mysterious blind bat called I, with whom they make a deal: if the birds will carry I during the day, he will carry the birds on his back during the night. So begins an ethereal journey through a bizarre yet beautiful universe, as the creatures team up to make their way to the place where the sun sets. Based on Persian poet Farid Ud-din Attar’s ‘The Conference of the Birds’, ‘Birds Like Us’ is a tale of acceptance and coming together to overcome differences – part comedy, part political allegory and featuring a visionary animated style.
About the Director
Faruk Šabanović has directed numerous advertising campaigns, short films, music videos and animation projects, and has won several awards for his accomplishments, including a Special Mention for the development of ‘Birds Like Us’ from the Zagreb Animafest in 2007.
Amela Ćuhara is an award-winning director, screenwriter, and author. She has worked on several films, including ‘The Seeker’ (2008), ‘The Lady of the Lake’ (2009), ‘The Love Path’ (2013), ‘Behar’ (2014). Amela was a participant of Sarajevo Talent Campus, at the 2008 Sarajevo Film Festival. She is currently working on ‘Tindili’, a children's animated show, and ‘Initiation’, an animated short film.
Credits
- Director
- Faruk Šabanović, Amela Ćuhara
- Screenwriter
- Olivia Hetreed, Faruk Šabanović
- Producer
- Adnan Ćuhara
- Editor
- Nic Gastor
- Executive Producer
- Amela Ćuhara, Abigail Disney, Sherine Helmy, Olivia Hetreed, Cat Villiers
- Music
- Timothy Bruzon, Peter Gabriel
- Cinematographer
- Almir Đikoli
- Production Company
- Prime Time Production, Autonomous, Turkish Radio & Television, Fork Films
- Sound
- Eilam Hoffman
- Cast
- Alicia Vikander, Jeremy Irons, Jim Broadbent, Khalid Abdalla