Gevar's Land (La terre de Gevar)
Ajyal Competition
Qutaiba Barhamji / Feature Documentary / France, Qatar / 2020 / 75 min
In Arabic, French
Interests: Documentary, Immigration, Identity
Middle East Premiere
Synopsis
Newly settled with his partner and son in a suburb of Reims, Gevar—who has arrived from Syria, has decided to invest in the rental of a small patch of land to grow vegetables. Before clearing the earth, he draws up plans, imagines what can be grown there and produces seedlings, all while dreaming of a fruitful garden. They arrived only a short time ago and will now have to put down roots here, as returning home is out of the question. The small patch of land is sometimes more welcoming than the rest of the country, and they must acclimatise and find their way in the culture, the language, neighbourhood spats and the gaze of the others.
Filmmaker Qutaiba Barhamji films them over four seasons as they settle on this new ground that often rebels against the couple’s hopes. ‘Gevar’s Land’ explores the mysterious power of the earth, and its capacity to restore an ineffable link between an exiled and uprooted man, and his new surroundings. The film questions the idea of territory, which often goes hand in hand with the need to erect borders. Here, what is mine, and there, what is yours.
About the Directors
Qutaiba Barhamji was born in Damascus, Syria, and speaks four languages fluently, Arabic, Russian, English and French. He has worked as a movie editor on several feature documentary films including 'The Magic Mountain' (Andrei Schtakleff, 2015), 'Guests' (Alexey Sukhovey, 2015) and 'Film-me' (Lera Latypova, 2015). His first short film 'Wardé' (2016), which was produced by Arte France, won several awards and obtained the CNC state grant.
Credits
- Director
- Qutaiba Barhamji
- Producer
- Karim Aitouna, Thomas Micoulet
- Editor
- Qutaiba Barhamji
- Cinematographer
- Qutaiba Barhamji
- Sales Company
- Haut Les Mains Productions
- Production Company
- Haut Les Mains Productions
- Sound
- Benoit Chabert d'Hieres