The theme running through the second edition of the BBC Arabic Film Festival was the changing dynamics of ‘power’ in the Arab world — now grappling with several new realities following the so-called Arab Spring. This year’s movie line-up certainly dealt with several dark subjects that at times didn’t make for easy viewing. Topics such as identity politics, exile and the heartbreaking plight of Syrian refugees featured predominantly at the festival hosted at the iconic Art Deco Radio Theatre in central London between October 30 and November 2.
Among the films screened at the festival, the ones that stood out were those focusing on children who are living amid the conflicts in Syria and Iraq and those in Egypt confronting the poignant aftermath of a very difficult transitional period.
The festival offered a valuable opportunity to understand the seriousness of the situation in many parts of the Arab world and bridge the divide between a Western audience and the Arabs featured in these documentaries.
As simple as it may seem, this worthy objective of helping people understand each other couldn’t be any more important amid rising intolerance as facts are commonly distorted and biases in media coverage loom large. And let’s not forget about those extremist groups who are actively seeking to sow hatred and division amongst us.
To put it bluntly, future generations in Syria and Iraq are losing the chance to lead a normal life, to go to school, to play, to dream of a better life. With each passing day, these children become more hardened, turning into adults well before their time and losing the hopeless battle to hold on to their childhood. The ramifications of this are huge and it should matter to each and every one of us.
It is no coincidence that the refugee crisis has dominated headlines in the recent months and it is projects such as the BBC Arabic Film Festival (with several films on refugees) that allow for a clearer, better understanding of how events unfold and for what reasons.
Whether the shortlisted movies were chosen based on the current realities in the Arab world or the BBC chose to focus on the region’s harsh realities is open to debate. But certainly, these films (short films, feature documentaries, short documentaries and reportage) are an important means to report facts on the ground from places such as Syria, Iraq and Egypt in order to start a much-needed conversation on how to tackle these urgent issues.
The idea of putting together the BBC Arabic Film Festival is twofold. “First it is to try and access the kind of material that young and not so young filmmakers are working on across the Arab world. The second objective is to bring the Arab world to Britain and to a British audience that wouldn’t see this kind of stuff otherwise,” says Liliane Landor, the BBC controller of languages.
The absence of films from the Gulf and Lebanon (the main entries came from Syria, Iraq and Egypt) at this year’s line-up was not intentional. “It is simply the way they ended up short-listing the films. That was done by a group of critics of mixed panels (Arab and non-Arab),” says Landor who was a judge at this year’s festival.
“Looking back, we could have been light hearted about the selection and this is a lesson to learn,” she quickly adds.
She doesn’t think that the films are miserable because the state of the Arab world is “miserable”. “We are living in a hugely transformative period, but even in that people are finding love and getting married and finding opportunities to enjoy themselves in some little corners that we don’t know about.”
Hopefully, the audience can expect more variety next year.
The film festival will not be a one-off or two-off, Landor says. “This is very much a commitment to filmmaking in the Middle East and to getting these things to the UK so people can see what is happening in the region.”
Here’s a closer look at some of the films shown this year:
‘Tuk Tuk’
Capturing the complicated story of child workers in Egypt, Tuk Tuk focuses on the recent development in poor neighbourhoods in Cairo. Children are driving tuk tuks (auto-rickshaws) in the city to provide for their families. Filmed after the Egyptian revolution of 2011, the documentary sheds much-needed light on the lives of low-income families that are so desperate for money that they take loans to buy tuk tuks and get their children to drive them around.
One of the children interviewed in the documentary says he would rather not be driving a tuk tuk and would prefer to go back to school so he can focus on building a future. It is heartbreaking to watch the parents’ desperation reflected on their children.
Romany Saad, director of the documentary, told Weekend Review that he was inspired to make this movie when he got into a tuk tuk one evening, only to discover the driver was just 9 years old — his son’s age. He says he made the movie two years ago, but nothing has changed for these children since. He noticed the rise in the number of children driving tuk tuks about two years before the Egyptian revolution and it’s only gotten worse. Initially, not many children drove tuk tuks, but as security deteriorated and their economic condition worsened, children started looking for any kind of work just to supplement their family income.
Tuk Tuk was shot during the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood. Saad says things are better now in terms of security and safety, but children are still driving tuk tuks.
The biggest lesson Saad learnt while making this film is how important it is to remain true and authentic and with the people. He says leaderships may change, but people remain the same. Their problems and issues matter and through this movie he felt more connected to his fellow Cairenes. The fact that Saad didn’t get any funding meant there was no outside influence or censorship of his work, of which he is very proud.
‘This is Exile: Diaries of Child Refugees’
Another feature documentary centred around children, This is Exile: Diaries of Child Refugees, is directed by Mani, an award winning independent filmmaker and photographer. Mani sets out his mission from the start to portray child refugees forced to flee from the violence of Syria’s civil war to neighbouring Lebanon — considered by many a low-risk option. What he has adeptly achieved is getting the children to honestly and unapologetically explain what it feels like to embark on that journey and endure hardships that no one should suffer.
Quite like Tuk Tuk, the children featured in this film are captivating and display a seriousness and understanding far beyond their young years. Their testimonies are heartbreaking, but they offer a simple way of understanding the Syrian refugee crisis and why so many families are desperate to move their loved ones out of harm’s way.
At a time when there’s so much negativity surrounding the refugee crisis and a somewhat disturbing debate about what Europe needs to do, a movie such as this succeeds in stripping away any misconceptions people might have about these “foreign people”.
Once you have watched This is Exile: Diaries of Child Refugees, it will be difficult to view someone as “them versus us”.
Mani’s work stays with you and pushes the viewer to start thinking about an ordinary daily news story from a different perspective.
‘Second Hand Refugee’
The story of a Palestinian family from Hebron forced into exile three times is the subject of the short documentary Second Hand Refugee. Narrated passionately by the main character Thawra (Arabic for revolution), the story is multi-layered and exposes the scale of Palestinian suffering, which began in 1948 when Israel declared itself a state.
Young filmmaker Jumana Saadeh does an incredible job of capturing raw moments in this brave family’s story. The audience learns not only about the hardships of being forced into exile, but the devastating impact of the Palestine-Israel conflict, which endures to this day.
The winner of the festival’s young journalist award, Saadeh will receive training and equipment worth up to £10,000 (Dh56,073).
Saadeh says getting the world to understand the refugee crisis as well as her commitment to the Palestinian cause compelled her to shoot the documentary. She said that she is most disappointed with generic media coverage that fails to make the distinction between a refugee and a migrant.“The mixing up of these two phrases or concepts is so unfair for the refugees,” she says. She wants her film to make people aware of the forgotten 30,000 Palestinians who do not have any legal documentation, such as the family featured in her film, and are thus facing even more hurdles in overcoming their desperate circumstances.
