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2020 Festival Shorts


TAFF Online Shorts Programme 2 + Panel Discussion
Date: July 25
Time: 7pm Eastern Time


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​A still from Towards the Sun
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Towards the Sun 
Countries: Canada, Lebanon 
Director: Nour Ouayda 
Length: 17 mins 
Synopsis: You are now in the main hall of the National Museum in Beirut. A guard reminds you that you are encouraged to touch the archeological objects. A voice in your headset suggests that you lick the stone. You are now facing a hole in the wall on the lower left corner of a mosaic. The voice in your headset indicates that it was made by a sniper. Out of curiosity, you dial 1-9-9-1 to listen to the rest of the story.


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A still from In the Middle
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In the Middle 
Countries: Yemen, Qatar, Russia
Director: Mariam Al Dhubhani 
Length:14 mins
Synopsis: In a rarely seen perspective of war, we follow Ali—a Yemeni soldier on tour in the temporary capital of Aden. Leaving his hopes, dreams, and education behind to join the military, Ali dutifully sits at his checkpoint, performing a mundane task that he is clearly overqualified to do. His story represents the majority of youth in the country, people who are unable to just ‘live’, but instead are forced to continually struggle to survive.


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A still from Four Acts for Syria
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Four Acts for Syria 
Countries: Syria, Germany 
Director: Waref Abo Qaba
Length: 14 mins
Synopsis: Syrian history has been multicultural for centuries. This film is a voyage through Syrian culture until today’s insanity. It is a message of peace and hope for the Syrian people.



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A still from The Return of Osiris
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The Return of Osiris 
Country: Palestine 
Director: Essa Grayeb 
Length: 14 mins
Synopsis: On June 9, 1967, Egyptian President at the time, Gamal Abdel Nasser appeared on television and radio to inform the Egyptian citizens of their country’s defeat. During the speech, he also announced his resignation. For many, Nasser's speech was the first hint at the full scope of loss and disillusionment with the pan-Arab vision he led. The film weaves together dozens of scenes that feature the speech from Egyptian films and television series produced between 1972-2016. The found footage excerpts were edited to reconstruct Nasser's speech of resignation according to the original text.


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A still from I Have Seen Nothing, I have Seen All
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I Have Seen Nothing,
​I Have Seen All
 

Countries: Syria, Sweden 
Director: Yasser Kassab 
Length: 20 mins
Synopsis: After talking about the end of the war in Syria and the start of the reconstruction phase, Yaser and his family find themselves compelled to deal with the transfer of graves from public parks in Aleppo. Thousands of kilometers separate Yaser from his parents in Aleppo. With what these two places carry of contradiction is reflecting the way they both deal with what happened.


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A still from Compressed
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Compressed
Countries: Syria, France 
Director: Ali Dawwa 
Length: 8 mins
Synopsis: Compressed highlights the work of Khaled Dawwa, a Syrian artist, who was in one of the Syrian regime's prisons. He met many young people in the prison, their only guilt and the great crime was that they had dreamed of, and asked for a better future. Released from prison, Khaled, now lives in France. He considers himself a hope for all those who are still in prison and expresses their voice and suffering through his sculptures. For Khaled, love and revolution are inseparable.


Online Panel Discussion:
Defying Politics, Towards Pan-Arabism in Cinema:
The Role of Transnational Cinemas and Film Festivals in Creating a New Arab Cinema


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Image courtesy of Azza Abbaro
Abstract:Given the recent new wave of Arab cinema, bolstered by co-productions and initiatives around the world, particularly in film festivals, this panel aims to examine the recent wave of Arab films in international film festivals through the lens of a pan-arab renaissance. Recent co-production initiatives, transnational talent development and pan-Arab distribution, in particular, are defying national borders and are reinvigorating and redefining preconceived notions of what constitutes Arab cinema.

​Moderated by: Karam Masri
Speakers:
  • Walid El-Kachab, Associate Professor, Arabic Studies, York University 
  • Christina Piovesan, Producer & President of First Generation Films
  • Viviane Saglier, Post Doctoral Fellow, Department of Anthropology and the Institute for the Study of International Development (ISID), McGill University 

Panel sponsored by:
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German productions co-presented by: 
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Co-presented by:
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4th annual Toronto Arab Film Festival - june 1-4, 2023


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  • HOME
  • NEWS//أخبار
  • 2021 FUNDRAISER
  • Festival//مهرجان
    • Call for Submissions 2022-2023
    • Festival 2022 >
      • Tickets
      • 2022 Programme >
        • 2022 Film Programme
        • Opening Day 2022
        • TAF 2022 Panels >
          • Filmmaking amid Lebanon’s Collapse
          • The Language of Belonging
          • Canadian Filmmakers Roundtable
        • Closing Night Party 2022
      • Awards 2022
      • Call for Submissions
    • Previous Editions >
      • 2021 >
        • Festival Programme >
          • Feature: Abou Leila
          • Feature: Unknown Saint
          • Feature: Sugar Cage
          • TAFF Shorts Programme 1
          • TAFF Shorts Programme 2
          • TAFF Shorts Programme 3
          • TAFF Shorts Programme 4
          • Shorts Programme Collection (Available Globally)
          • Speculative Fiction Programme Collection (Available Globally)
          • TAF Panels 2021
          • TAF Workshops 2021
        • Festival News
        • Awards 2021
      • 2020 >
        • Feature: Talking About Trees + Panel
        • TAFF Shorts Programme 1
        • TAFF Shorts Programme 2 + Panel
        • TAFF Shorts Programme 3
        • Awards 2020
  • CINEMA NIGHTS//ليالي السينما
  • NETWORK//شبكة
    • Diary Films
    • Producer Accelerator
    • Call for Commissions
    • Film Lab
    • TAF Salon
    • Panels
    • Resources
  • ABOUT//عنا
    • Contact//تواصل
  • SHOP