- 03 Mar 2021
Middle East Film Festival 2021
The Middle East Film Festival 2021 taking place from 19 February to 3 March 2021 at the Shaw KinoLounge, is presented by the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore and supported by the Singapore Film Society.
Director Foreword
What is a film? A story. An event. A set of moving images. The sound of a train. An eavesdropped conversation. Recorded on camera. Screened in a cinema. Shown on television. Streamed via the Internet.
Movies are the window into our humanity. And they are a respite, though brief, from the challenges of navigating an increasingly complex world.
Each story told, each event recalled, allows us into a world that might mirror the one we live in or looks nothing like our own everyday. And yet something speaks to us through these films. Language and dress may differ but hopes and dreams seem somehow familiar. We are placed in situations we may never have to face. As the stories unfold, we find ourselves rooting for the main characters, willing them to find the solutions, the success or the peace that they seek.
The films we have chosen for this year’s Middle East Film Festival may sometimes be confronting, set against backdrops of family and expectation, harsh landscape, or tumultuous social change. But they each tell of the resilience of spirit, the unbowed soul. And unlike the grand scale, blockbuster films of Hollywood or even Bollywood, those from the Middle East focus more closely on individual struggles and society, giving us a more intimate look into their everyday and how they must navigate these hurdles.
We hope you enjoy the films that the Middle East Institute at NUS has curated this year in partnership with the Singapore Film Society. Thank you again for joining us.
Here is an insight into the collection we have in store for you this year. Scroll on to know more and purchase tickets as well!
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A SON (PG13)
Tunisia, summer 2011. A family holiday to southern Tunisia ends in disaster for Fares, Meriem and their 10-year-old son Aziz when he is accidentally shot in a terrorist ambush. His injury will change their lives as Aziz needs a liver transplant, which leads to the discovery of a long-buried secret. Will Aziz and the couple’s relationship survive? View the trailer here. Click here to watch an exclusive Q&A session with Director Mehdi M. Barsaoui, held on 26 February 2021, 8pm Singapore time. |
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THE DAY AFTER I’M GONE (PG13)
Yoram, a 50-year-old veterinarian living in Tel Aviv, is forced to re-examine his relationship with his adolescent daughter Roni after she wishes to end her life. He decides to take her on a journey to visit her mother’s family, setting off a process of self and mutual discovery in the primordial desert land enveloping the Dead Sea. View the trailer here. |
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THE UNKNOWN SAINT (PG)
Amine steals a big bag of money and escapes into the hills with the police hot on his heels. Before he is arrested, he digs a grave to bury the cash and disguises it as a modest tomb. Years later, he is released from prison and sets off to find his money. However, a religious shrine honouring an unknown saint has been built directly over the place he buried his cash. With his loot now hidden in a holy place, retrieving it suddenly becomes much more complicated. View the trailer here. |
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PAPICHA (M18)
Algeria, the 1990s. Nedjma, an 18-year-old student passionate about fashion design, refuses to let the tragic events of the Algerian Civil War keep her from experiencing a normal life and going out at night with her friend Wassila. As the social climate becomes more conservative, she rejects the new bans set by the radicals and decides to fight for her freedom and independence by putting on a fashion show. View the trailer here. |
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A TALE OF THREE SISTERS (M18)
Three sisters, Reyhan, Nurhan and Havva are reunited in the remote mountain village where they grew up with their father, after living as besleme (foster child and maid) with their foster parents in the city. All three want to return to the city as soon as possible, but whether they can depends on their solidarity, competition, and the decisions of the men around them. View the trailer here. |
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THE ORPHANAGE (NC16)
In the late 1980s, 15-year-old Qodrat lives on the streets of Kabul and sells cinema tickets on the black market. A big Bollywood fan, he daydreams himself into some of his favourite movie scenes. One day, the police take him to the Soviet orphanage. But in Kabul, the political situation is changing. Qodrat and all the children want to defend their home. View the trailer here. |
Only limited tickets are available for each movie. Tickets will be available from Friday, 5 February 2021, at kinolounge.shaw.sg.
Each film is available at S$7.99. Enjoy the Middle East films as bundles and at discounted prices too!
Any 3 films for S$17.99. (Usual Price: S$23.97). All 6 films for S$29.99. (Usual Price: S$47.94)
About the Speakers
(Ticket sales starts early February 2021)
