Latest news with #FakherEldin
Broadcast Pro
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Broadcast Pro
Ameer Fakher Eldin's ‘Yunan' to screen at 34th FESCAAAL in Itlay
The film was developed in December 2021 as a part of a trilogy of Ameer Fakher Eldin's first 2021 film, 'The Stranger' with working title as 'Nothing of Nothing Remains'. Ameer Fakher Eldin's latest film, Yunan, is set to screen twice at the 34th African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival (FESCAAL) in Milan, Italy, where it will compete in the Official Competition. One of the screenings will be followed by a Q&A session with the director. The festival runs from March 21 to 30, with Yunan scheduled for its first screening and Q&A at 7:30 PM on Tuesday, March 25, at Cineteca Milano Arlecchino. A second screening will follow on Wednesday, March 26, at 1 PM at the same venue. Yunan is the second film in Fakher Eldin's trilogy, HOME, which explores themes of estrangement. The film follows a disillusioned Arab writer who leaves his exiled life in Hamburg and travels to a remote North Sea island with thoughts of ending his life. There, he encounters an elderly woman whose quiet kindness rekindles his desire to live. Directed, written and edited by Ameer Fakher Eldin, the film is a Canadian-German-Italian co-production, with contributions from Palestine, Qatar, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The cast includes Lebanese actor and filmmaker George Khabbaz, German actress Hanna Schygulla, Palestinian actor Ali Suleiman and Game of Thrones stars Sibel Kekilli and Thomas Wlaschiha, alongside Lebanese theatre veteran Nidal El Ashkar. The film features a score by MAD Crew composer Suad Bushnaq, cinematography by Ronald Plante, production design by Marie-Luise Balzer and sound design by Kuen-Il Song. It is produced by Dorothe Beinemeier, Catherine Chagnon, Marco Valerio Fusco and Micaela Fusco, with additional collaboration from Alaa Alasad and Hind Anabtawi. Executive producers include Paola Corvino and MAD Solutions' Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab. Backed by Red Balloon Film, Microclimat Films, Intramovies, Metafora Production, Tabi360 and Fresco Films, Yunan is distributed in the Arab world by MAD Distribution. The film received support from the Red Sea Fund, the Red Sea Souk, the Jordanian Royal Film Commission, MOIN Film Fund, Eurimages, Telefilm Canada and SODEC. Ameer Fakher Eldin, a Syrian filmmaker based in Hamburg, was born in Kyiv in 1991 to Syrian parents from the occupied Golan Heights. His debut film, The Stranger, premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, winning the Edipo Re Award. Fakher Eldin is currently developing the final instalment of his trilogy, Nostalgia: A Tale in Its First Chapters, a joint production between Syria, Palestine, Germany and Italy, which has received support from the Red Sea Fund.
Al-Ahram Weekly
11-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Al-Ahram Weekly
INTERVIEW: Ameer Fakher Eldin on trauma of exile and meaning of home in his film Yunan - Screens - Arts & Culture
In this Ahram Online interview, Syrian filmmaker Ameer Fakher Eldin speaks about Yunan, his second feature narrating a story of displacement, exile, and nostalgia. Yunan, premiered at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale13-23 February), where it competed for and won the festival's highest awards, the Silver Bear and the Golden Bear. Yunan is directed by Fakher Eldin, a writer and filmmaker born in Kyiv in 1991 to Syrian parents from the occupied Golan Heights and is currently based in Hamburg. The film tells the story of Munir, an Arab poet journeying to a remote island to end his life, haunted by his past and trapped within his imagination, accompanied only by an old story told by his mother. However, Munir encounters the enigmatic Valeska and her rough, loyal son Karl on the island. Their simple acts of kindness help him overcome his pains and reawaken his desire to live. The film features Lebanese actor and filmmaker George Khabbaz as Munir, alongside German cinema icon Hanna Schygulla as Valeska. Palestinian actor Ali Suleiman, known for Paradise Now, plays the Shepherd, while Game of Thrones' Sibel Kekilli portrays the shepherd's wife. Nidal al-Achkar plays Munir's mother. Written, directed, and edited by Fakher Eldin, Yunan was co-produced by groups in Germany, Canada, Italy, Palestine, Qatar, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. In a poetic cinematic style, Fakher Eldin reflects on the meanings of home and belonging, a theme he began exploring in his award-winning 2021 debut feature The Stranger. The Stranger - the first in Fakher Eldin's planned trilogy Homeland, and the prelude to Yunan - premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival and won two awards at the Cairo International Film Festival: the Shadi Abdel-Salam Award for Best Film in the Critics' Week Competition and Best Arab Film. "The idea of the trilogy began with me contemplating the concept of home,' Fakher Eldin told Ahram Online. 'What is home? Is it where we used to live in the past, or is it related to the future? Since my origins are from the occupied Syrian Golan, I don't really know my homeland. I can't even visit Syria. Thus, the concept of home for me is unclear,' he added. Yunan is also about isolation. The Golan Heights has been occupied by Israel since 1967 and is detached from the homeland, Syria, to this day. 'It is a very personal story but it is also an international story. It is mainly about detachment and being unable to communicate,' said Fakher Eldin. 'This trilogy is also about nostalgia, but it's more of a nostalgia for the future, not the past.' In Yunan, the protagonist's mind is haunted by his mother's mysterious narrative about a shepherd with no mouth, nose, or ears. 'I see the world from a different perspective, so the film has an absurd fantasy side because even in his dreams, Munir lacks the ability to communicate,' the filmmaker explained. Most of the film was set on one of the German Halligen, a cluster of small islands without protective dikes, where the sea regularly floods in a phenomenon called Land unter. 'This place made me ask myself many questions. I had enough time to reflect on the idea of estrangement and the meaningless silent waiting, Waiting for Godot,' he stated. For the filmmaker, it wasn't just a setting for the film but the perfect metaphor for the story's rhythm of submersion, loss, and return. What vanishes may not be gone forever but it will not return unchanged. Yunan's title references the name of Prophet Yunus in the Arabic Bible, suggesting deeper metaphorical aspects in the film. 'If we are talking about estrangement, what could be stranger than being inside the belly of a whale?' says Fakher Eldin. 'I love Yunus' story, and it feels like he experienced a kind of confusion, close to what Munir's character feels.' Ameer Fakher Eldin is working on the third part of his Homeland trilogy, Nostalgia. 'In the first two parts, I portrayed the main characters as victims, living with existential trauma. However, the third part will be entirely different,' Fakher Eldin confirmed. 'My protagonist will be a free, successful, independent man who isn't limited by borders, time, or anything else. Borders are only in our minds; they can't control our lives.' Following Berlinale, Yunan has secured multiple distribution deals to be released in theatres worldwide, including Turkey, Italy, Germany, Greece, France, Bulgaria, and Canada. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
11-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Al-Ahram Weekly
INTERVIEW: Ameer Fakher Eldin on trauma of exile and meaning of home in his film Yunan
In this Ahram Online interview, Syrian filmmaker Ameer Fakher Eldin speaks about Yunan, his award-winning second feature narrating a story of displacement, exile, and nostalgia. Fakher Eldin - a writer and filmmaker born in Kyiv in 1991 to Syrian parents from the occupied Golan Heights and currently based in Hamburg - tells the story of Munir, an Arab poet journeying to a remote island to end his life, haunted by his past and trapped within his imagination, accompanied only by an old story told by his mother. Yunan, which premiered at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale13-23 February), competed for and won the festival's highest awards, the Silver Bear and the Golden Bear. However, Munir encounters the enigmatic Valeska and her rough, loyal son Karl on the island. Their simple acts of kindness help him overcome his pains and reawaken his desire to live. The film features Lebanese actor and filmmaker George Khabbaz as Munir, alongside German cinema icon Hanna Schygulla as Valeska. Palestinian actor Ali Suleiman, known for Paradise Now, plays the Shepherd, while Game of Thrones' Sibel Kekilli portrays the shepherd's wife. Nidal al-Achkar plays Munir's mother. Written, directed, and edited by Fakher Eldin, Yunan was co-produced by groups in Germany, Canada, Italy, Palestine, Qatar, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. In a poetic cinematic style, Fakher Eldin reflects on the meanings of home and belonging, a theme he began exploring in his award-winning 2021 debut feature The Stranger. The Stranger - the first in Fakher Eldin's planned trilogy Homeland, and the prelude to Yunan - premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival and won two awards at the Cairo International Film Festival: the Shadi Abdel-Salam Award for Best Film in the Critics' Week Competition and Best Arab Film. "The idea of the trilogy began with me contemplating the concept of home,' Fakher Eldin told Ahram Online. 'What is home? Is it where we used to live in the past, or is it related to the future? Since my origins are from the occupied Syrian Golan, I don't really know my homeland. I can't even visit Syria. Thus, the concept of home for me is unclear,' he added. Yunan is also about isolation. The Golan Heights has been occupied by Israel since 1967 and is detached from the homeland, Syria, to this day. 'It is a very personal story but it is also an international story. It is mainly about detachment and being unable to communicate,' said Fakher Eldin. 'This trilogy is also about nostalgia, but it's more of a nostalgia for the future, not the past.' In Yunan, the protagonist's mind is haunted by his mother's mysterious narrative about a shepherd with no mouth, nose, or ears. 'I see the world from a different perspective, so the film has an absurd fantasy side because even in his dreams, Munir lacks the ability to communicate,' the filmmaker explained. Most of the film was set on one of the German Halligen, a cluster of small islands without protective dikes, where the sea regularly floods in a phenomenon called Land unter. 'This place made me ask myself many questions. I had enough time to reflect on the idea of estrangement and the meaningless silent waiting, Waiting for Godot,' he stated. For the filmmaker, it wasn't just a setting for the film but the perfect metaphor for the story's rhythm of submersion, loss, and return. What vanishes may not be gone forever but it will not return unchanged. Yunan's title references the name of Prophet Yunus in the Arabic Bible, suggesting deeper metaphorical aspects in the film. 'If we are talking about estrangement, what could be stranger than being inside the belly of a whale?' says Fakher Eldin. 'I love Yunus' story, and it feels like he experienced a kind of confusion, close to what Munir's character feels.' Ameer Fakher Eldin is working on the third part of his Homeland trilogy, Nostalgia. 'In the first two parts, I portrayed the main characters as victims, living with existential trauma. However, the third part will be entirely different,' Fakher Eldin confirmed. 'My protagonist will be a free, successful, independent man who isn't limited by borders, time, or anything else. Borders are only in our minds; they can't control our lives.' Following Berlinale, Yunan has secured multiple distribution deals to be released in theatres worldwide, including Turkey, Italy, Germany, Greece, France, Bulgaria, and Canada. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
