NOTES ON DISPLACEMENT

Creative Documentary by Khaled Jarrar / 75 mins /  Palestine, Germany, Qatar

With Nadira Abud, Mona Abozamel, Melden ‘Mohie’ Abozamel, Marya Abo Shama, Abdul Abo Shama, "Ammar” & Jacer

Written by Khaled Jarrar, Iris Pakulla & Yasmin Zaher

Edited by Gladys Joujou

CO-PRODUCTION WITH JENIN FILM (PALESTINE) & odeh films (palestine)

The news is full of images of overcrowded boats and vast tent camps. But how much do we really know about what refugees are going through? Notes on Displacement takes a deep dive by following a single family on a grueling journey, destination Germany. Their fear, disorientation, and solidarity is palpable.

Nadira, an elderly Palestinian, has been a refugee since the age of 12. And now she has to leave Damascus, too. She and her daughter Mona feared for their lives there, but the idea of a safe existence elsewhere is a distant dream. Filmmaker Khaled Jarrar receives unsettling videos and voice messages as they cross to the Greek island of Lesbos. He joins them there, on the long road to a better life.

Jarrar has his personal reasons for going through this experience in order to eliminate, in his own images, the distance so dominant in Western media coverage. He worms his way through the thronging crowds, gets lost in the night with his group, discovers how dangerous language barriers can be, and wanders around in the dehumanizing camps. And in a sense he—along with the viewer— becomes a true member of this family.

Supported by The Doha Film Institute and The Arab Fund For Arts and Culture, Taawon, AlterCine

Participated at

Agora Docs in Progress  2020 / Won Neaniko Plano Subtitling Award, Doc Ramallah 2019, Cairo IFF Industry Days 2019, Doc Corner Cannes 2018, Qumra Doha Film Institute 2018