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Arab News
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Ameer Fakher Eldin: ‘I was cut off from my culture. Now I'm making films with all the Arab world'
DUBAI: Four years ago, Syrian filmmaker Ameer Fakher Eldin set out to craft a cinematic trilogy about exile — not as an abstract theme, but as a visceral, lived reality: from being a stranger among your own people, to becoming a stranger among others, and ultimately, to imagining a life unhindered by the limitations of national borders. The first chapter, 'The Stranger,' introduced us to Adnan, an unlicensed doctor lingering in a liminal space in Syria's occupied Golan Heights. The opening lines hinted at the trilogy's ambition. Standing pensively by a window, Adnan is addressed by his off-screen wife, who lists the options before them: 'France? Paris… they have delicious bread. Germany? Anywhere far from here.' Ameer Fakher Eldin at the Amman International Film Festival in July 2022. (AFP) The film, which Fakher Eldin wrote, directed, and edited, would go on to represent Palestine at the Academy Awards — a decision he describes as an 'incredible gesture' and a 'beautiful, warm embrace' from a fellow occupied people. 'Perhaps it's a different type of occupation (to the Golan Heights). We don't have the daily clashes, but occupation still runs in the waters,' he says. Now Germany has become the setting for his trilogy's second chapter 'Yunan.' Having premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, where it competed for the highest prize, it is currently touring the festival circuit, building on the critical momentum of 'The Stranger.' A still from 'Yunan.' (Courtesy of Red Balloon Film GmBH, Productions Microclimat Inc, Intramovies Srl) 'Yunan' explores the emotional journey of Munir (played by Lebanese actor Georges Khabbaz), a Syrian writer living in exile in Germany. Burdened by the psychological toll of displacement, he travels to the Halligen, a series of low-lying islands off the coast of Schleswig-Holstein, where he contemplates suicide. One of the director's early inspirations was the suicide note of Stefan Zweig, a Jewish writer who fled Austria and Nazi persecution in the 1930s. Eventually settling in Brazil, he took his own life alongside his second wife, Lotte Altmann, having been left bereft by exile, the loss of his homeland, and an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. 'The character of Munir emerged from a deep exploration of the human condition,' says Fakher Eldin, who was born in Kyiv but grew up in the Golan Heights. 'I wanted to explore this quiet battle that we face within ourselves. Since I come from the occupied Golan Heights, I grew up in exile without being forced to leave. I didn't flee because of war or a national crisis — the border was displaced, leaving me displaced. I don't know Syria. I can't go to Syria. So I was left waiting for — or fantasizing about the idea of — a homeland.' A post shared by Ameer Fakher Eldin (@ As the filmmaker points out, much has been written about the odyssey of being a refugee — the danger, the despair, the journey itself. But what of being displaced? 'The time has come for us to look at what happens after,' he says. 'This is no less important. My approach was to try to anatomize the mind of the displaced person. I entered this world by connecting to the universal aspects of loss and disillusionment and the search for meaning.' It was during the initial stages of exploring these themes that he came across the Halligen and the phenomenon known as 'land unter' (land under), when the islands are submerged by the sea. Only a handful of man-made mounds topped with farmhouses remain above the water, enabling life to continue after the sea has receded. Metaphorically, land under came to reflect the structure of Yunan – that of submersion, loss, and return. 'I went to this hallig for two years while writing, getting to know the people and the culture, and I heard, of course, about the flooding,' says Fakher Eldin, who has lived in Germany for the past four years. 'I asked them: 'When does this happen? Please tell me, because I want to be here.'' He was told it could occur once a year, 20 times a year, or not at all. Most likely, however, such an event would take place between January and March. A post shared by MAD Films (@madfilmsofficial_) The team visited during those months but nothing happened. Fakher Eldin decided to use visual effects instead, working with a post-production studio in Canada to create the film's flood scenes. Then, in October, they headed back to the island for a three-week shoot. On the fourth day, a strong wind began to batter the island. 'Not every wind makes a land under. It has to be strong enough, but also blowing in a certain direction, because not every wind moves the water with the tide. But that one was just right,' he says, calling the wind's arrival 'divine intervention.' He made a quick decision: he took a small team, a camera, and Khabbaz to one of the elevated farmhouses. 'I remember standing next to the oldest man in the house, an 85-year-old, who was learning into the wind in the classic style. I said to him, 'Do you at least know from which direction the sea will come?' I didn't want to just shoot from the house, I wanted to get intimate with the water, because it's a character in the film. I wanted people to see that it was coming.' The speed of the event gave Fakher Eldin no time for preparation. 'It's not something you can think of before, because you haven't experienced such a thing,' he explains. 'We had 20 minutes because it was so fast. From the moment the water crossed the barrier of the shore until it reached four meters high, it felt like magic, but also incredibly dangerous. I had to direct in real time — that was a challenge. But everything you see in the film is real.' A post shared by Ameer Fakher Eldin (@ 'Yunan,' which received support from the Red Sea Fund and the Red Sea Souk, will have its Arab premiere at the Red Sea International Film Festival in December. It will then go on general release across the Arab world. Although Fakher Eldin is currently concentrating on 'Yunan,' he has completed writing the third and final instalment, tentatively called 'Nostalgia: A Tale in First Chapters.' The film will tell the story of a renowned Arab opera singer who suddenly loses his voice and returns to the Golan Heights to convalesce. 'This has brought me a lot of joy,' says Fakher Eldin of his Red Sea funding. 'Especially with coming from the Golan Heights, where I was cut off from my culture. I can't go to Syria, I can't go to Lebanon, I can't go anywhere in the Arab world. I'm exiled in my own home. But now I'm making films with all of the Arab world. It's not only Saudi, it's Jordan, Palestine, Qatar… It's like all the Arab countries are part of my creation.' A post shared by Ameer Fakher Eldin (@ Importantly, the director has refused Israeli funding, thereby safeguarding the identity of his films. That refusal is not just political but deeply personal — rooted in a lifelong resistance to imposed narratives and erasures. 'They will never say I'm Syrian. They will only say I'm a Druze filmmaker, which is something they do to distinguish Druze from Arab, which is total nonsense. But this is what happens in Israeli media and in daily life,' he says. 'That's how they like to separate. I refuse to live under an authority that wants to erase my identity.'
Broadcast Pro
26-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Broadcast Pro
Hong Kong Int'l Film Festival to screen Red Sea Foundation-supported films
Red Sea Film Foundation-backed films 'Yunan', 'To a Land Unknown', 'To Kill a Mongolian Horse' and 'Yalla Parkour' are set to be showcased. The 49th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) has announced its 2025 lineup, featuring several films backed by the Red Sea Film Foundation, including Ameer Fakher Eldin's Yunan, Mahdi Fleifel's To a Land Unknown, Xiaoxuan Jiang's To Kill a Mongolian Horse and Areeb Zuaiter's documentary Yalla Parkour. Scheduled to take place from April 10 to 21, the festival will highlight nearly 200 films from 69 countries, including six world premieres, two international premieres and 52 Asian premieres, with over 300 screenings planned. Among the notable selections, Yunan—the second installment in Fakher Eldin's HOME trilogy—follows a disillusioned Arab writer who, contemplating suicide, retreats to a remote North Sea island, where an encounter with an elderly woman rekindles his desire to live. Fleifel's To a Land Unknown portrays the struggles of two immigrants seeking a way out of Athens, while Meryam Joobeur's Who Do I Belong To delves into themes of identity and conflict as a Tunisian mother grapples with the unexpected return of her son from Syria. Making her feature-length debut, Zuaiter directs Yalla Parkour, a documentary that intertwines her search for belonging with the story of Ahmed, a parkour athlete in Gaza. The film, an international co-production involving Sweden, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Palestine, premiered at the Berlinale's Panorama section earlier this year. Jiang's To Kill a Mongolian Horse, a drama set in Inner Mongolia, is also among the featured selections. Produced by Da Huang Pictures, the film represents a collaboration between Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and the United States. HKIFF 2025 will open with the world premieres of The Brightest Sun by Japan's Tetsuya Nakashima and Pavane for an Infant by Malaysia's Chong Keat Aun. The festival will conclude with Norway's Dreams (Sex Love) by Dag Johan Haugerud, which recently won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale.
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:
