It is 2013 and Syrian sisters Rima (Maria Hassan) and Nour (Hala Hosni) arrive as refugees in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. They find a temporary home in a “camp” with Haifa (Najwa Kandakji) and her niece Shirin.
Rima is the older sister conservative in views and dress. Nour could be a teenager in any North American city and does not wear a hajib.
Pregnant Rima has left husband Firas behind in Syria. Despite numerous telephone calls to Firas pleading him to join her Rima receives no firm commitment from Firas. It is in days and then weeks. One gets that feeling he is no innocent civilian.
Nour is obsessively pining for brother Ahmad rumored to be in Beruit “setting up a base”. Again not the innocent civilian.
Rima obtains a housekeeping job with kind-hearted construction engineer Khaled who also works at the “camp” in his spare hours. Khaled is a widower.
Nour embarks upon a dangerous task of trying to locate her brother Ahmad at one point being incarcerated. Rima is also jailed for being in wrong place at the wrong time easy in volatile Lebanon.
Do Rima and Nour find their missing ones? Part of the adventure of the film.
And there is romance too between Shirin and soldier Hassan!
A portrayal of the intransience of refugee life. Rima strives to be in the moment making the best of the situation while Nour is bleak.
As Rima gives birth to her son Marwan one is compelled to ask if the child is yet part of another generation destined to grow up in desperation and misery.
The acting is excellent all round. The flow of the film is seamless if not magical. The music contemplative and well suited. A compelling watch.
I asked myself was this an oppressively depressing movie? No. I suppose it offers just a speck of hope founded in so many victims of conflict attempting to make the best in bleak circumstances. Friendship and compassion survive.
You can watch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDEPlI_9gX8&t=2s
Directed by Anna Fahr.
Screening 21March2024. You can check out the festival’s website https://www.canfilmfest.ca/
RKS 2024 Film Rating 89/100.
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