To a Land Unknown review – Palestinian migrants face tough choices in taut Athens-set thriller
Cousins Chatila (Mahmoud Bakri) and Reda (Aram Sabbah) don't have the luxury of morality. Undocumented Palestinian refugees living hand to mouth in Athens, they subsist on what they can scrape from petty crimes. Chatila has a plan – to save enough to reach Germany, where they will open a cafe. Reda, meanwhile, has a drug habit. Clean for a month, his addiction continues to get in the way of his view of the future. Clinging to his smarter, stronger cousin, Reda asks again to hear about the cafe, like a kid pleading for a bedtime story. When a scheme to make money backfires, Chatila snatches opportunity from the jaws of disappointment and comes up with a plan to earn enough to escape Athens. But it's a plan that comes with a considerable cost, both to the desperate victims Chatila plans to target and to the cousins, who have to live with themselves afterwards.
Mahdi Fleifel's taut thriller, which plays out predominantly in Arabic and English, has something of the ragged outlaw urgency of Midnight Cowboy. The hard-scrabble gutter existence is vividly captured by a restless, questioning camera, but we learn the most from Bakri's superb performance, as he wrestles with guilt over what he has become.
In UK and Irish cinemas
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
7 hours ago
- The National
The actor passionate about putting Scottish talent on the world stage
And he hopes that the recent appointment of Alan Cumming as artistic director of Pitlochry Theatre will help that happen. 'There is definitely a buzz around Pitlochry just now and Scottish theatre could really use that sense of excitement,' said Collins, who is appearing in three productions at the theatre this summer, including Grease which opens this month. 'Making Scottish entertainment more globally recognised is one thing I am always really passionate about,' he added. 'I know that Canada, America and Australia would love to see more Scottish content and I know that we have the talent here and that we can do it. It is just a matter of finding out how to package these things up.' READ MORE: 'Joy, celebration and warmth' of Palestinian art to be showcased at Edinburgh Fringe He is now on the cusp of applying for indefinite leave to remain, but Collins's commitment to Scotland and Scottish theatre was tested severely back in 2017 when he struggled to renew his visa from the UK Home Office. At the time he had been in Scotland for 10 years, having arrived in 2007 to study at the RSAMD, now the Royal Conservatoire in Glasgow. However, when his visa ran out, he was forced to go back to the United States to re-apply after the Arts Council in England failed to endorse his initial application. This was despite protests from well-known actors like Greg Hemphill and Jack Lowden and a successful run of work in Scotland, including playing Hen Broon to much acclaim in the stage production of The Broons cartoon strip. Eventually successful but having lost out on months of work, Collins returned to Scotland and has never regretted it. 'The idea of starting over in America did not appeal and especially now the way things are,' he said. 'I've been super lucky, even in Covid when I got to do voiceovers for Lego and Warhammer and other amazing projects, including recording a video game after lockdown that has just come out on Xbox called Star Trucker.' His commitment to Scotland remains even after all the setbacks his adopted country has suffered since 2014. 'One of the reasons I stayed in Scotland after I graduated is that I felt a bit of a renaissance happening here and felt I wanted to be a part of it and help that movement,' he said. 'We've had the legs kicked out from under us a few times with the indyref and Covid but I am trying to keep the faith and spotlight all the really talented Scots and people who work in Scotland as more people should be seeing them.' Although he has now lived in Scotland for most of his adult life, Glasgow-based Collins only visited Pitlochry for the first time last year. 'It's a beautiful part of the world and it's lovely to be working here just now, as it's an exciting time with Alan coming in,' said Collins, who is appearing as Kenickie in Grease which runs in Pitlochry from June 18 to September 27. He will also appear in the theatre's forthcoming Great Gatsby production and Sunshine on Leith. READ MORE: This bird species is found only in Scotland – and may 'have a Scottish accent' Grease is a co-production with Blackpool Grand Theatre and it is the first time it has been staged as an actor/musician show. 'We're all playing instruments on stage and playing all the backing,' said Collins, who plays guitar. 'That has been pretty cool and the calibre of the musicians is awesome. It's really fun and all the songs are great. It's a toe-tapper that people enjoy.' Director Sam Hardie pointed out that although the musical is now 50 years old, its songs fill dance floors, karaoke rooms and play on radio stations across the world. 'I still remember the feeling of seeing the film for the first time, with songs that made you just want to move and characters you longed to be,' he said. 'The story is a celebration of what it means to be young: to fall in and out of love, to rebel, to dream, to dance and discover who we are and who we want to be. 'Now feels like exactly the right moment to tell this story and meet these young people who remind us of the vitality of life and that in this world we should go together rather than individuals apart.'
Channel 4
7 hours ago
- Channel 4
Sir Attenborough's new film calls for ban on destructive fishing methods
The Prince of Wales has called for bold action to protect and restore the planet's oceans. Speaking on World Oceans Day, on the eve of the UN's Ocean Conference, Prince William said the clock was ticking towards the 30/30 target – which aims to protect 30 percent of the world's land and sea by the year 2030. The problem of over-fishing is highlighted in Sir David Attenborough's new documentary – which is available on Disney Plus. The film has galvanised calls to ban destructive fishing methods – while tomorrow the government will announce proposals to protect more vulnerable areas of English seas from a harmful practice known as bottom trawling.
Sunday Post
9 hours ago
- Sunday Post
Paul Hollywood on his love of flying and how he landed TV career
Get a weekly round-up of stories from The Sunday Post: Thank you for signing up to our Sunday Post newsletter. Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up Great British Bake Off's Paul Hollywood has a dream, and it's not pie in the sky. The man with a need for speed (he's a keen biker) has a vision of flying a helicopter to the land of his forebears – Poolewe in the north-west Highlands. 'It would be quicker and easier than by road,' he grins. The Wirral-born baker, who has judged on the show for 15 years, initially with Mary Berry for the BBC before controversially moving to Channel 4 in 2017 to judge with Prue Leith, always knew there was Scots blood in his veins. But it wasn't until he took part in the BBC genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? that he realised how deep it ran. 'I'm more Celt than I am English,' the 59-year-old tells P.S. from his home in rural Kent. Paul, whose great-grandfather Kenneth Mackenzie was in the Glasgow police, says: 'They always ask you before they start the genealogy programme: 'Where do you feel more comfortable?' 'I said in a scenic, remote location with mountains and streams. At the end of the filming, I was sitting on a rock just outside Poolewe, and they told me to look around and then they played back what I'd said at the beginning. 'Oh my God,' I said, 'this is it…'' © Supplied by Bloomsbury publisher He adds with more than a hint of pride: 'I am a Mackenzie of Gairloch and Poolewe. My family are Highlanders who went down to Glasgow in the 1800s.' In this year's New Year's Bake Off he sported a kilt made for him by Black Isle designer Siobhan Mackenzie. 'I wore it for the Hogmanay Bake Off special and Prue wore her Leith colours.' Paul has toured in Scotland, worked at the BBC's Glasgow studios, and spent a week filming in Gairloch and Poolewe, and he is planning a return, initially as a road trip. He embarked on a helicopter pilot course in 2023. 'It was a dream I had as a kid. I used to have all these toy helicopters,' he reveals. 'Then, years ago, I had a trial lesson for a birthday present. There are nine exams. I have done them all and I have my radio licence. 'I still have to do a final practical test. I am trying to fit it in around work and I can't fly when I'm filming. 'It feels like I have accomplished something for myself. It has been good to sit down and study for what feels like the first time in my life. 'I always struggled in school, I lacked the concentration. I didn't try, nothing clicked. If they had baking classes, I would have probably done all right. Clearly, I can concentrate when I'm interested in something.' Paul – who in April hit headlines when he went to the aid of a pilot who crashed his small plane into a field in Kent – admits he would never have imagined having a TV career or that it would lead to authorship and even bankroll his dream of flying helicopters. The Wallasey lad started out following in his graphic designer mum Gillian's footsteps but gave up art college to join his dad John in his bakery business, before becoming head baker at top hotels in the UK and Cyprus. He has just launched his sixth recipe book, Celebrate, which is in part inspired by a childhood centred around the church at which his grandfather was a lay preacher and his grandmother organised coffee mornings. Reliving those days, he says: 'Most times there was always a birthday or people going back to the church for a party and there were a lot of traybakes and treats, which is where a lot of the ideas for the book came from.' An eclectic mix of foolproof recipes for showstopping bakes marking life's special moments, it is packed with easy traybakes, layer cakes, quiches, tarts, breads, pastries, desserts and cookies. Dad-of-one Paul married his second wife, Melissa, in 2023 in his beloved Cyprus, where he lived for six years and made his first foray into TV. He says: '(Food writer) Thane Prince was making a programme, Food From the Village, and asked me to be part of it. 'He said I was quite natural on television and I should do some more. He gave me a card and said: 'Contact this agent when you're back in the UK,' so I did.' © Bloomsbury Publishing/PA It led to a TV series with James Martin in 2000 and, among others, appearances on This Morning and the Gloria Hunniford Show. A few years later he got the call for the Great British Bake Off. Fame came fast. 'In the first couple of years of Bake Off, I could walk down the road without too much of an issue. Now it's different,' he says. 'You have to adjust and get used to that. What you gain financially is fantastic, but what you lose is quite substantial – your anonymity, your privacy – but you don't know that at the beginning.' With millions of viewers and its popularity in the States rocketing, he laughs: 'People come up and talk to you in the strangest places. I was using the loo in Switzerland and a Brazilian bloke came in and recognised me straight away. He asked if I would speak to his wife. I said I would, but could I just finish what I was doing.' Despite his serious Bake Off persona, he has a sense of humour, as his part in the Compare the Meerkat TV ads shows. 'People who know me know I don't take myself seriously. The role I have in Bake Off is a role. Real life is very different. 'I am constantly taking the mickey out of myself. That advert tickled me so I said I'd do it. 'People were phoning me saying: 'Why don't you get off my television,'' he grins. 'Being on the TV wasn't a job that you looked at when I was a kid. Even my mum said that out of all of my brothers I'd be the last one to do that. I was quite quiet and shy. It just found me.' © Mark Bourdillon/Channel 4/PA Wire Any regrets? 'I have no regrets TV-wise. I feel I have done all the things I've set out to do. I'm contented with where I am and with what I am doing but it has taken me a long time to get that point. I live in the middle of nowhere and keep myself to myself. 'I'm doing what I did when I was young. 'I like a quiet life, reading old spy novels and flying stories, cycling, sitting in the sunshine and listening to good music. I'm a big fan of Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. I'm a bit of a hippy really.' Paul's five-star work experience © PA Paul Hollywood worked as head baker at some of Britain's most exclusive hotels, including Cliveden, the Chester Grosvenor and The Dorchester, as well as the five star Annabelle in Cyprus, before getting his start in UK TV. In 1999 he co-hosted shows with James Martin for the Carlton Food Network and CFN Taste. Now heading into his 17th year with The Great British Bake Off, and with an MBE for baking and broadcasting, he remembers his salad days, juggling hotel work with TV. Recalling his meeting with his now pal John Torode in Cyprus, he says: 'He knew a chef I worked with in the hotel. Years later I came back to the UK and did a programme with James Martin, and John was one of the guests. He walked in and went, 'Oh my God, I saw your name but thought it can't be that guy from Cyprus. Well done mate'. 'I met Jamie Oliver when he was doing Naked Chef. He used to say, 'just do it mate, enjoy it'. But I was still working in hotels and TV wasn't my main job. It was a bit of icing on the side of the cake.' Now it's the main deal, who would Paul have bake his showstopper? 'Probably Raymond Blanc, he is a legend, a god. His food, and the way he approaches his food, is stunning… or Benoit (Blin),' he says, blue eyes sparkling. Celebrate: Joyful Baking All Year Round by Paul Hollywood is published by Bloomsbury
