proudly present

Middle East Movie Nights – Diaspora

This is the last serving of this year’s run of the Middle East Movie Nights; a collaboration between the NUS Middle East Institute and The Arts House which is on its third year now.  The December screenings feature a double bill of movies that focus on the lives of Arabs who live in non-Middle Eastern countries. The second of the diaspora-themed movies is:

The Secret of the Grain – Theatrical Trailer

Director & Writer : Abdellatif Kechiche | Cast: Habib Boufares, Hafsia Herzi and Farida Benkhetache | 2007
| France | 154 min | Type of film: Drama | Arabic and French with English Subtitles | Rating NC16

At the port of Sète, Mr. Slimani, a tired 60-year-old, drags himself toward a shipyard job that has become more and more difficult to cope with as the years go by. He is a divorced father who forces himself to stay close to his family despite the schisms and tensions that are easily sparked off and that financial difficulties make even more intense. He is going through a delicate period in his life and, recently, everything seems to make him feel useless: a failure. He wants to escape from it all and set up his own restaurant. However, it appears to be an unreachable dream given his meager, irregular salary that is not anywhere near enough to supply what he needs to realize his ambition. But he can still dream and talk about it with his family in particular. A family that gradually gives its support to this project, which comes to symbolize the means to a better life. Thanks to its ingeniousness and hard work, this dream soon becomes a reality…or almost….

Winner of 5 Awards at the Venice Film Festival 2007

Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at the European Film Awards 2008

Winner of the Muhr Award at the Dubai International Film Festival 2007

Free Admission via compulsory registration HERE

Registration Desk open from 6:30pm onwards

Do arrive early for registrations in order to avoid delay of the screening