To a Land Unkown Midway via To A Land Unknown, Palestinian-Danish filmmaker Mahdi Fleifel’s narrative characteristic debut, Palestinian cousins stranded in Athens—sharp Chatila (Mahmood Bakri), his spouse and child again in Lebanon’s camps, and delicate Reda (Aram Sabbah), working onerous to rein in his drug habit—discover themselves wanting to assist Malik (Mohammad Alsurafa), a 13-year-old Palestinian orphan new to Athenian streets, get to his undocumented refugee aunt in Italy. The duo’s passage to Germany—to Europe, to freedom, to the autonomy of working their very own cafe in some Arab enclave of Berlin, to all the pieces neither Palestine nor Lebanon can provide them on the planet’s present configuration of oppression—isn’t petty-thieving or sex-working their method to faux passports, however turns into way more elaborate scheme. To assist Malik and themselves, Chatila and Reda should take up a one-time gig as smugglers, outwit one other smuggler and outfox different oppressed Arab males from different war-ravaged lands.
Fleifel’s highly effective, suspenseful dramatic thriller begins with a quote from Edward Said, weaves in a poem by Mahmoud Darwish and is, as Fleifel reveals on this interview, a remodeling of a landmark e-book by Ghassan Kanafani. As inspirations go, Fleifel selected giants amongst Palestinian writers and literary critics of the final sixty years. An eight-nation coproduction, To A Land Unknown seems like a purposeful outgrowth of the characteristic documentary and handful of shorts that Fleifel made prior to now twelve years. I spoke to Fleifel over Zoom; Watermelon Pictures, a distribution firm emphasizing Palestinian cinema, releases the movie in theaters within the US on July 11.
Filmmaker: Can you speak about setting this Palestinian story in Athens? This movie isn’t Greek cinema, but it surely’s nonetheless a narrative set in Greece and thus about Greece. What has been the response of Greek audiences on this regard, and to the portrayal of Athens?
Fleifel: Greek cinema, historically, doesn’t actually delve into social realism, not to mention poetic realism. They extra wish to play with metaphors and symbolism. That’s their type of cinema, so [the film] might not have been a factor for them. I used to be shocked to see that the movie was very well obtained, and evaluations have been beneficiant. But in Greece particularly, they weren’t pleased about it. [laughs] They didn’t slaughter it however they weren’t that enthusiastic. Somehow, due to historical past, they’re in it. They may acknowledge that a part of town [where the story takes place]. To them it was an Athens that appeared genuine however that they had by no means seen portrayed in cinema earlier than. I took that as a praise.
[Ultimately] this can be a story of the underbelly, of individuals that you simply both don’t like or don’t need there or don’t know or perceive. This is their Athens. How do refugees coming from the Middle East come to Europe? Well, via Greece. They must take care of all this. Somehow, irrespective of how a lot we tried to spin the movie as a thriller—it’s a thriller—[Greek audiences] weren’t taking it. I’ve been making movies about these guys [like the characters in the film] for a few years via my documentary work. Somehow I’ve been labeled a “refugee director.” These characters aren’t refugees, they’re exiles. Technically, you could possibly label them “refugee,” however going deeper, who’re these individuals? They’re exiled from this world. They stay in a state of longing, a state of desirous to belong someplace. That’s the emotional side I’m all for.
One factor that I don’t like about social realism is when it turns into edifying or has an ethical side to it, like on the finish, we’re going inform you how life actually is, and all these salt of the earth which can be martyred due to this unfair system—that’s not what I’m about. I wish to go to the darkish facet of mankind, what is basically happening. I wish to speak about disgrace. Like, what’s it like for a younger man to have left his spouse and child again within the camp and never with the ability to be there for them or present for them? In reality, you’re the one who has to name your spouse someday and ask her to ship you 100 bucks through Western Union. What does it really feel wish to must go to the parks and do issues with individuals within the bushes that you simply by no means think about you’d do, simply to get by the day?
Filmmaker: You introduced up the concept of exile. For me, this brings up the concept of diaspora. Do you’re feeling that since you’re a member of the Palestinian diaspora since you reside in Denmark, and because you’re additionally all for tales about individuals in exile, did you select to set this story in Athens as a result of it’s someplace in between and displays the state of being in between?
Fleifel: I imply, life occurs to you, and also you’re both open to it otherwise you’re not. I discovered myself in Athens someday, with a digital camera, as a result of I used to be making a documentary about my childhood pal. My dad and mom had been born within the camps, I used to spend my summer time holidays within the camp. But I used to be privileged sufficient to go away, go to Europe and turn into a European. I used to be nonetheless fascinated by what occurred to my mates who by no means left. I used to be making this documentary referred to as A World Not Ours that follows my childhood pal who leaves the camp to go to Europe and finds himself stranded in Athens. When I referred to as him to see the place he’s now and if he had made it to Germany, he stated, “No man, I’m stuck in Athens.” So after I went to see him, this entire new world opened up.
Being Palestinian and being amongst Palestinians on this purgatory, this stopover—none of them actually wished to be in Greece, however it’s the gateway to Europe. They had been looking for the appropriate smuggler, the appropriate route. I used to be instantly bitten by this concept. There was an urgency and a necessity, like I needed to inform this story, however then you definitely attempt to discover the shape. Then you’re instantly tapping into the tales you heard as a child. One of the primary issues that got here to thoughts was this novella by Ghassan Kanafani, Men within the Sun. Kanafani was a prolific Palestinian author who died tragically. He was killed by Mossad, age 36. He was good; he may have received the Nobel Prize at this time. He managed to write down novels, performs, brief tales and make work, and was the editor of a newspaper. He wrote Men within the Sun within the ’60s, and he was speaking about younger males leaving the camps within the ’50s to go and work at what on the time was “El Dorado,” and that was within the Gulf. It wasn’t Europe. They would go to Kuwait. So, this can be a story about three males who’re attempting, with the assistance of a smuggler., to make it to Kuwait and find yourself stranded on this purgatory desert area between Iraq and Kuwait. It’s a tragedy, primarily.
When I lived in Athens, I used to be like, “Oh my God, this is Men in the Sun,” simply many years later. Now El Dorado is Europe, and the desert is that this city desert. Try to go to Athens in the midst of August and also you’ll know what I’m speaking about. It’s hell on earth, it’s a concrete desert. So, instantly my mind made this connection and I believed, “OK, that is going to be a contemporary adaptation of Men within the Sun. In reality, for a few years till the [premiere] at Cannes, it was referred to as [that]. We needed to write to [Cannes] and say, the movie is now not referred to as Men within the Sun. It’s referred to as To A Land Unknown.
In addition to Kanafani, you may have Edward Said. Said was the primary particular person to clarify to me what was actually happening inside. I got here to Denmark after I was 9, and I used to be like, “What’s going on here? Am I Danish? Am I Palestinian? Am I European? Am I an Arab?” I used to be so confused.When I learn Reflections on Exile in my 20s, Said took me by the hand and stated, “Hey, you’re an exile. It’s a painful place to be.” He describes it virtually as a religious state of being, a longing. We are individuals who lengthy for a nation, for a military to guard us, for all these items that non-exiles have, you recognize? But we don’t know what it’s like. All we all know is the longing. For me, that’s what the movie is about. That’s why I put his quote [at the top of the film].
Filmmaker: As you stated, it’s too simple to model characters like Chatila and Reda as refugees. I’m pondering of different latest movies that present the journeys of oppressed Arab and Muslim populations en path to Western Europe, to international locations like Germany and Sweden, even Denmark. Flee involves thoughts. Of course there are totally different causes for the characters’ journeys. How do you’re feeling your movie converses as if in any respect it does converse with these latest movies?
Fleifel: To be trustworthy, the one movie that I like of all these movies—I’m not saying that the remaining are dangerous movies—is L’Escale (Stop-Over). It was made by this Iranian filmmaker [Kaveh Bakhtiari]. He’s not precisely a filmmaker. He was like, “My cousin is stuck in Athens, having left Iran, and he’s living with seven men in a basement flat. I’m gonna take my camera and go there.” That for me was a movie the place I felt there was an authenticity and honesty.
It’s a query of perspective, proper? How are you approaching this? From what angle? Are you in it or are you wanting from exterior in?I see our movie as a movie about exiles, but it surely’s made by exiles. You can argue it’s made for exiles. I’m privileged, however you may take the man out of the refugee camp; you may’t take the camp out [of me]. The camp is a big a part of my life. I’m now sitting right here in my stunning, small residence in Copenhagen surrounded by artwork and books and whatnot, however I don’t neglect that my father was born in a tent in ’54.
Filmmaker: I used to be undoubtedly taken by Edward Said’s quote to start with, but additionally actually loved the attractive poem recited so fantastically by the drug vendor character, Abu Love, in a quiet stretch of the second half. The first lyric is beautiful: “The mask has fallen from the mask.” Did you at all times wished to incorporate a poem, and why this one? And why did you give it to the Abu Love character?
Fleifel: I wished to incorporate a poem. When we had been engaged on the final model [of the script] with [my co-writer] Fyzal Boulifa, I stated, “We’re introducing a poet [the Abu Love character]. I’m going to be pretty disappointed if he’s not going to recite a poem at some point in the film. What kind of poet is that?” For me, it made sense [to have the poem] after they’re all ready in Tatiana’s residence. That can be the becoming second for Abu Love. This is what we do, that is custom. We sit collectively telling tales or lighting candles, reciting poetry, singing. That’s the place we come from. And I knew that it needed to be [the poetry of] Mahmoud Darwish. Who else? So, it was a dialog with Mouataz Alshaltouh, who performs Abu Love.
One of the issues that I didn’t wish to compromise on was the casting, and I used to be combating to the final bit for each single member of the forged [including] Abu Love. I wished a number of actors that had been supposed to return from Jordan. For no matter cause, the Greek ambassador in Jordan was not giving them a visa. They couldn’t are available in. So, we needed to shuffle and I needed to do lots of final minute Zoom auditions. I had discovered this man in Berlin who I reluctantly forged [as] I had two weeks to shoot and wanted an Abu Love. He may do it, however he wasn’t the man I had in thoughts. He was large and had lengthy hair. He jogged my memory just a little little bit of Danny the Dealer from Withnail and I. I used to be like, “I don’t know if that confrontation at the end with Chatila would make sense, because he’s bigger than Chatila.” I believed, “I’ll find a way to make it work.”
Rhen I used to be presupposed to forged somebody for the [very last minute] alternative of Reda. What occurred is that Mouataz turned up on my Zoom, and I used to be auditioning him for Reda, and I used to be like, “Hang on, this is Abu Love.” The casting director stated, “You’ve already cast Abu Love. He’s flying in from Berlin.” I stated, “No, you have got to cancel and pay him the replacement fee.” She’s like, “No, you’re crazy. You can’t do this.” “Says who? I’m telling you, I just found Abu Love.” I used to be like, “You’re a poet. I need you to show me what you got.” So [Mouataz] would ship me WhatsApp audios, reciting all these poems he had memorized by Mahmoud Darwish. After a couple of, he despatched me this one [“The Mask Has Fallen”]. And I used to be like, “That’s the one, baby.”
Filmmaker: [Major Spoiler Alert] Wow. I discovered the second of the poem so bittersweet. Abu Love recites it so fantastically, as we’re all ready to see what’s going to occur to those characters. But he’s additionally the one who brings within the medication which can be finally the undoing of Reda. The identical character who brings such magnificence to these phrases as a poet can also be the undoing of this duo on the middle of the movie. Is that one thing that you simply had thought of?
Fleifel: I imply, not in the best way that you simply’re describing it. In my earlier works following Palestinian refugee youth from the camps, in Lebanon particularly, I’d come throughout the work of sociologist, Marie Kortam. She had coined the time period, “Three Logical Exits.” I truly made a brief movie referred to as 3 Logical Exits. It follows a man whose identify is Reda [Al-Saleh]. I’ve made two brief movies about Reda, the opposite referred to as A Man Returned. Reda’s actual life story is that he died of an overdose in Athens.
The three logical exits that Kortam talks about are mainly the three apparent exits that any younger refugee has in Lebanon. One is becoming a member of a political faction, to get a way of identification, possibly some pocket cash. Buying or promoting medication is logical exit quantity two. Logical exit quantity three is to flee, to cross some border and take a look at your luck. These exits had been at all times at the back of my thoughts. After having portrayed [the real life] Reda’s story in my earlier works, it dawned on me that Marie had maybe forgotten or hadn’t talked about a fourth exit, which is the exit-exit. Given these three choices, there must be a fourth one. That was that was kind of the logic behind [the fate of Reda in this film]. But yeah, they’re all intertwined. [Spoilers End]
Filmmaker: I virtually learn Abu Love as an antagonist, however from listening to you, possibly he wasn’t?
Fleifel: Depends on the way you see it. Chatila noticed him as an antagonistic power. For Reda, possibly he was and he wasn’t. I don’t like issues to be straight. I at all times like that there’s a nuance to issues. It’s good, but it surely’s additionally dangerous, but it surely’s additionally good.
Filmmaker: I discovered it fascinating that the character of Malik, for whom Reda and Chatila danger a lot, was a powerful character. He has this grounded knowledge, far past his 13 years. I used to be curious if you happen to had thought of that. Would it have been within the scope of the story to have made Malik a weaker character? Not a sufferer however somebody who doesn’t have the road smarts about him. What if Malik was extra just like Reda in some methods?
Fleifel: I hear what you’re saying, however for me, it wouldn’t have made sense. This is a jungle, a dog-eat-dog world. How do you survive? You’ve obtained to man up. This child is attempting to be a person amongst these males, and youngsters tend to imitate and replica their environment with a purpose to survive. So, for me, it was apparent to see this child shortly step into a task of just a little man. No dad and mom—he has to go and speak to the smuggler by himself. It’s additionally a way more enjoyable character. How else do you play with, for instance, the shoe stealing scene with the negotiation with Yasser within the park? You have a large within the type of Yasser, bullying or undermining. Reda’s not going to have the ability to rise up. Bring within the little man. These issues come to you whenever you’re engaged on the script. When we had been engaged on that scene, it was the obvious factor. Plus, for me, these guys weren’t going to be anybody’s fucking sufferer. This is the factor about Palestinians being portrayed in media on the whole: they’re both terrorists or victims. These guys are like, “Hey, we’re neither, thank you very much.”
Leave a Reply