Custard Creams
Stumbling
- Chichester International Film Festival.
(Drama) Looking down the barrel of the lens, a dysfunctional family pieces together an event that has irrevocably altered their relationships. A complex exploration of parental responsibility and consent, this film contains descriptions of a sexual encounter that some may find distressing (Ireland/UK. 70 mins).
A unique debut feature, from a script by Joseph Crilly, Stumbling consists of direct-to-camera interviews with five characters, speaking as if for a documentary. Every frame and sound was captured over three days at the former UTV studio facility in Belfast, with a crew of four, on a budget of only £10,000. Stumbling is a carbon positive production.
CON LOS AÑOS QUE ME QUEDAN
To get ahead, Macarena agrees to act as a mule and transport merchandise from Los Angeles to Mexico. To do this, he hires a shared car trip online with Louis, the peculiar young “owner” of the vehicle. Everything seems perfect...
However, her escape, which promised to be, above all, liberating, ends up being an experience full of shocks, that will end up with Macarena and Louis in the greatest adventure of their lives."
SIR
Sir è un curatore di anime col potere di scacciare il male fisico e morale. La sua maledizione: non riuscire a guarire la moglie malata. La figlia lo odia, mentre la nipotina Gaia ne ammira le doti taumaturgiche. La speranza della piccola è apprendere l’arte di Sir e salvare la nonna col più innocente dei medicamenti: delle bolle di sapone.
Sir sub eng (19’)
https://vimeo.com/713449248
Password: SIR
The Heart Wants
Winners
Whale Heart
Pain of Silence
“Pain of Silence” examines the work of ' Hun Lakhon Lek Sippathum Kumnai' (Thai Traditional Puppets), ethnic group 'Thai Song Dam', 'Mae Phe Tai Hun Lakhon Khon' (Thai human puppet group), the leather art Grand Shadow play 'Nung Yai' (Thai leather craft), and the award-winning blind 'Phin' (traditional Thai lute) player Boonma Khaowong. This important documentary illuminates the importance of these traditional art forms and inspires renewed support for these artists and their craft. Through powerful storytelling, "Pain of Silence" inspires audiences with a deeper understanding of the significance of these art forms and the need to preserve them for future generations.
Mamita
The Oldest Comedy Club in Britain
не могу говорить, я в кино
can't talk, a movie's on
מנגן חזק מידי
It's Too Loud
Placebo
Memories of Mummy and Daddy
More than Hair
Screamer
مکبر الصوت
Speaker
I Cheated
Rice Connections
Bean Feasa // Wise Woman
Bean Feasa is an Irish-language supernatural drama inspired by Donegal folktales and filmed on location in the Donegal Gaeltacht.
“A mesmerising and frightening work of ambiguity with a pitch perfect tone of superstition meeting reality”
- Foyle Film Festival
*Winner 'Best Irish Short Film' @ Foyle Film Festival 2022
*Nominated 'Best Foreign Short Film' @ FilmQuest 2022
*Irish Premiere @ Cork Film Festival 2022
*World Premiere @ Screamfest LA 2022
*Winner of the Comórtas Físín Irish-language pitching award 2021.
Geronimo
Yellow Dove Aftermath
A Particular Friend
TAKBIR
Sapling
The film is an anti-revenge thriller and a tense and sparse exploration of guilt and the long lasting consequences of violence. Employing naturalist performances, stylised symbolism and minimal dialogue, Sapling subverts typical macho genre expectations and looks at the failings of traditional masculinity.
Blue Monday
Jeff Hilliard - Abandon
The Podcast
The Girls of Dinefwr
No Such Thing
The Teardrop Vase
The film follows the transformation of a handful of clay into an alluringly glazed vase. Saba’s designs reflect a contemplative persona at ease with his tactile skills. He considers pots as sculpture, and the forms and glazes he creates bring together traditional techniques with modern sensibilities. His work is held in many public collections including the Ashmolean Museum, National Museum of Wales and York Art Gallery.
There’s a rhythm to this artist’s craft, wonderfully amplified by the music of his virtuoso pianist father. This meditative film considers how a craftsperson's personality and experiences influence their work, whilst contemplating our human relationship to clay and the elemental process of pottery making, one which has existed for millennia and continues into the present day.
The Magic Words
I am Cam I am
Nicholas Calling
Black Boy
For a BLACK BOY in Modern London, too often it’s as simple as being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But what if the judgement BLACKBOYs face from society… from school… from the police… was the same judgement they face from GOD?
Choked Up
tHE aGe oF aNXieTy
“tHe aGe oF aNXieTy,” responds to the anguish and insanity of the past year. The 40-minute work features a cast of 16 dancing exuberantly among New York City landmarks and follows the character Monsieur le Clown as he dreams of post-pandemic and post-Trump freedom. The film vividly depicts personal and collective despair but finds pockets of optimism as it celebrates the spirit and tenacity of the city and its inhabitants.
On The Line
One More Minute
Davey's Lullaby
The Philly Sound : The Sound Heard Round the World
The Outing
1970's: A lonely divorcee, Nellie, meets widower Frank on a trip to the seaside. Nellie lets herself be swept away by the hope of connection. But as the seagulls circle overhead and Frank begins to ask too many questions, Nellie realises she will never be able to escape a monstrous family secret ...
Green Plum
A Certain Kind of Person
Decorum
Muntjac
At the door of an ancient forest, Sinus loses his newfound friends, and descends into a frenzied trip towards the depths of his psyche. Blind wizards, clouds of bees, and giddy demons - all manner of evils await him in the shadows. In this darkness, will he ever find the elusive Möbius?
The Dong With The Luminous Nose
Waste
Fire Alarm Goes Off in Two Houses
The Oldest Pub in Britain
The Sea on the Day When the Magic Returns
We Are Nature
The Campaign to Protect Rural England studies show only 1% of visitors to UK National Parks come from “Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds”.
A recent report from the Runnymede Trust addressed systemic racism in England, its criminal justice system, education, health and employment. While this inequality is often examined in cities, how often do we consider the exclusivity of the natural world?
At a time when reconnecting with nature has never seemed so important, this film asks the question - is the British outdoors for everyone?
The film is based on audio interviews taken from a group of BPoC women outdoor activists who are changing the story.
It is an emotional response, a poetic and hybrid film consciously working to break stereotypes, acknowledge trauma without retraumatising the audience and inspire a new lens on the British outdoors.
Their unfolding experiences weave together a wider, lyrical narrative of community and shared history. It is a story of reconnection and reclamation – showing gentle activism breaking the status quo to forge a new British landscape.
Working in an intimate BPoC female and non-binary team with a black and a white co-director/co-producer the film seeks to present a new lens on deep-rooted issues in the UK outdoors, to an inclusive audience.
BLUETITS
Smile
Kambana
In the Mananjary region of Madagascar, there is a popular belief that twins are carriers of misfortunes.
Confession Day
Portée Disparue
Declared Missing
The latter suspects his wife of having wanted to kill him to steal his work.
Pierre then decides to go back in his memory to find his wife and finish his documentary.
For The Lost Ones
Beyond the Lake
Invisible People
It’s this moment, the dehumanisation of being homeless, that is the crux of this narrative. The story takes our lead, Drew, and presents how lonely it can be as someone who’s homeless. How society has ignored these people and it’s easier to forget they’re not there or pretend they don’t exist.
The Ultimate Samsara
夏日流浪
Wandering Summertime
Hunch
KITH
familiar country, place that one knows, kinsfolk, relations.
KITH is a short film directed by Ruth Jones produced by Holy Hiatus in collaboration with People Speak Up, Llanelli. It features movement artist Indigo Tarran and spoken word by fourteen community writers based in West Wales. KITH allows access to the usually private realms of domestic and internal worlds; spaces where joy, claustrophobia, bonds, chaos, love, grief, crisis and loss sit side by side. What does it mean to be part of a family? How does one's own identity change when the family shifts and changes – when people leave or arrive through birth, death or voluntary/involuntary separation? How does the passage of time alter our perception of family dynamics? What do the places we inhabit mean to us? What creative testaments could there be to powerful internal shifting processes, endurance and surrender to new realities? Kith is an opportunity for people of west Wales to tell and share their life stories.
KITH is filmed in the post-industrial and rural landscapes of west Wales
Silence 1b
The greatest thing Iggy ever met, before anyone else knew it. Her favourite thing, taken away before she could ever truly understand her. Iggy is now left to try and emotionally connect the dots between all that happened all too quickly.
Letters for Lost Lovers
Do Not Touch
The Monkey's Paw
The Sergeant-Major carries with him a trinket: a cursed monkey's paw that he acquired overseas. It was cursed by an old fakir and can grant the owner three wishes. Despite warning them all of the downfall that befell all those who wished upon it, the White family contemplate taking their chances.
Is it magic? A curse? Or pure coincidence?
NAFAS NAKESH (Don’t Breathe)
To exert more tyranny and suppression, the ruling power has done something to its dissenters that they exhale smoke when they breathe, and the agents must take into custody such people wherever they find them. Unaware of the law, a man meets one of the dissidents and it changes the course of his life, until he decides to immigrate to a better land with the dissident for a better life.
Selkie
A touching dramatic tale, the film itself also stands as a metaphorical allegory for the current overfishing of Scottish waters.
Starring Steven Cree (Outlander, Discovery of Witches) and Joanna Vanderham (What Maisie Knew, The Paradise, The Control Room)
Tomato Soup
Encore
Dear Fear
The Mirror
Saviour Complex
WAKE
Bluebird
RoButler
Bad Soil
Shortly afterwards, as Rhodri is out driving his tractor in a nearby field, he spots a car approaching. The car parks up opposite the farmhouse and a man gets out and walks across the field towards Rhodri. As he approaches the tractor we see that the man is bruised and bloodied. This is Rhys, Rhodri's younger brother.
Rhys demands to borrow a shotgun, and he and Rhodri get into an argument. During the course of their argument we learn that Rhys was beaten up that morning by a man called Gavin Huntley, to whom he owes a significant amount of money. Rhys reveals that, having not been able to extract the debt from him, Gavin has threatened to come seeking payment up at the farm. Just then, Rhodri notices a white pickup truck speeding towards the farm in the distance. Realising the danger, he grabs his brother and marches him to a nearby barn, where the shotgun cabinet is located.
Once inside the barn, Rhodri gives Rhys an opportunity to take the shotgun, but Rhys bottles it, leaving Rhodri to sort out his brother's mess out on his own. He grabs the shotgun and heads towards the farmhouse.
Gavin pulls up in front of the farmhouse. Rhodri threatens Gavin with the shotgun, who appears unperturbed. During the course of their stand-off, we learn that Rhys has been lying to his brother : he told Gavin that he owned half the farm, presumably to get out of a further beating, when in fact the farm was left entirely to Rhodri by the father, on account of Rhys being untrustworthy. Gavin is there to claim his stake in the farm by way of payment for Rhys' debt.
Deciding that Rhodri doesn't pose any kind of serious threat, Gavin gets out of the car and walks towards him, demanding he put down the shotgun. Feeling that his farm, his wife and his child are in serious danger, and with a rush of blood to the head under intense pressure, Rhodri pulls the trigger, killing Gavin instantly.
Rhys reappears from where he's been hiding and tries to take control of the situation, barking orders at his brother. Overwhelmed with emotion, Rhodri's horror at what he's done morphs into fury with his brother, whose actions have brought so much chaos to his doorstep once again. Rhodri raises the shotgun to his brother's head; Rhys is facing the other way and is unaware.
Cut to black.
Möbius' Trip
This movie cleverly plays with genre in such a way that audiences are left discussing the implications of the story long after viewing it. It's safe to say: this is a movie ONE MUST SEE TO THE VERY END.
Mudlark
Five Weeks
Latchkey
Pukkulapottas and Hours in the Forest
Un parell de cançons després
A couple of songs away
While Time is Away
Dead Cat Film
**EUROPEAN PREMIERE - BRITISH SHORTS BERLIN 2023**
**OFFICIAL SELECTION - BEESTON FILM FESTIVAL 2023**
**OFFICIAL SELECTION - KINO LONDON 2023**
A young woman becomes increasingly attached to the taxidermied corpse of her housemate’s cat.
A dark comedy starring Will Gao (Heartstopper/Netflix), Josie Charles and featuring the voice of Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey, Notting Hill).
The short was produced by Rasp Films who were BAFTA-nominated in 2021 for their short Lucky Break.
Under the waterlilies
FLITE
In the semi submerged London of 2053, the reigning hoverboard world champion finds herself imprisoned in a luxury high-rise apartment by her controlling manager. The kindness of a stranger allows her to take flight in a daring and precarious escape - but all does not go as planned. Can bleeding-edge new memory extraction technology help save her from certain death?
*****Most of FLITE is animated. The live action used was only to film the actor’s faces in some shots, then the Director put those live action faces onto the computer generated digital humans. The opening sequence (in the memory investigators suite) was shot live action - everything else is animation.*****
Sliced Bread
PRAGMA
PRAGMA is an off-beat romantic comedy, set in a Post Graduate Partnering Programme, led by the world's leading practitioner in sustainable love. We follow our protagonist Willow on a series of hilariously intense compatibility assessments lead by Dr Francis (Nick Mohammed) with an onslaught of outrageous suitors. She is left caught between a rock and a hard place asking herself the ultimate question; should you trust science or trust your heart (or let's be honest...burning loins)?
The Silent Treatment
Middle Watch
In Another Life
Cohabitation
Dying to Meet You
Resurgence
The Fourth
A Perfect Love
Red Lake
The Stupid Boy
Giddh (The Scavenger)
Work is hard to come by, the old starving man doesn’t look like a capable labourer. Things are grim until he stumbles upon an unlikely means of survival, but this comes at a cost.
He needs to put his conscience at stake for just a few morsels. A calamity strikes and the old man can benefit from it. Helplessness and desperation don’t know right from wrong but aren’t right and wrong subjective? An internal tussle ensues and soon hunger collides with guilt. With the food on his plate at stake, what will weigh heavier, his hunger or his guilt?
A Question of Service--PILOT
Joseph's family drama, inner tension, and a complicated relationship with his boss reveal that personal baggage can be just as complex as an espionage deal gone awry.
Blink
Unconquered
The true story of two elite soldiers severely injured in the line of duty. “Unconquered” charts their inspiring journey from the depths of despair to break the chains of life changing injuries to rise again.
Mittagessen mit Hitler
Lunch with Hitler
Write Off
Filming its third season, The Package is unrecognisable from her original vision and Jake plays a walking cliché of masculinity who always gets the girl. Co-creator, Kate Vernal insists the viewers want romance. This aggravates Beth who enjoys being single and a quiet life – A life disrupted by random appearances in her house by her lead character, Rhys Buxton.
Beth and Rhys have a complicated relationship, not helped by her past fling with Jake and her mixed feelings on whether she wants The Package to continue.
Rhys has fallen in love with Jane Maxwell, a new character Kate has created to placate Beth and give him a more meaningful relationship.
Rhys has started to take Beth into the fictional world of The Package where she finds she becomes Jane.
When Rhys discovers that Jake wants a clean break and has asked to be killed off, he tries to persuade Beth to change the script and allow him his happy ending with Jane.
ORTOLAN - Bones and All
Sinking
Coming Home
Macbeth
Our Home The Sea
Shakespeare for all Ages
Awarded with the Seal of Approval"Highly Recommended"
the highest distinction of the FBW, the German federal authority for evaluating and rating film and media.
"How can you give the target and age group "smartphone" an overview of the work of this unique literary genius without getting bogged down in long-winded lectures on verse and drama theory? The filmmaker and artist Hannes Rall has turned this consideration into a very short and yet for that very reason so great animated film. (...) He succeeds in depicting the poet's most famous plays in an immediately recognisable way with individual images that flow dynamically into one another. A smart, entertaining and coherent Shakespeare homage in about 3 minutes."
Abia
Wheels
THE LAST SLICE
Łza
Tear
LDN 51.5072N 0.1276W
Expiration Date
The Accent
The ensemble includes an eccentric host who lives in his bookstore, and several hilariously opinionated young couples. When the quiet new member opens up about her magical evening with a handsome British bloke, she turns the run of the mill meeting into a real-life mystery novel.
The third act culminates with a turbulent confrontation between the British "gentleman" and the delightfully scrappy Oakland book club crew.
Because Goddess is Never Enough
Because Goddess is Never Enough explores the elusive and fragmentary nature of Tilly’s life and evokes the spirit of the 1920s–40s when she was at the peak of her fame.
Tilly Losch was an Austrian dancer who worked with prominent, and cutting-edge, choreographers and artists in the UK and the US, from the West End to Hollywood. She was also a choreographer in her own right, who later turned to painting.
The film is about self-worth, the authentic self, and the credibility of creative women – Losch was someone who was at times exploited yet determined to maintain a path of her own making despite the obstacles that were very much present in her era. The parallels of Losch and the way women are still portrayed in the in the 21st century through the lens of the media and by society forms a powerful and thought-provoking statement about female identity. It highlights how far women have come in 90 years, and yet how far they still have to go to get recognition and true independence.
‘Because Goddess is never enough’ asks questions about biographies of women (and their complex lives!) who fall into the footnotes, lost from history as so many women’s stories are, seen only through a patriarchal lens, illuminating and reclaiming women’s stories.
Domestication
Domestication has been commissioned and produced by In Between Art Film for the project Mascarilla 19 - Codes of domestic violence.
Mask.
During the angst of the early pandemic in the corner of a dark underground car park, a troubled young father leaves his sleeping child alone in the car. An appalled woman intervenes.
Newbie
TERMINUS
The Space Between
When Alice and her grandmother, Pearl, woke up this morning, they didn’t know that today might be their last. Steve didn’t either, when his car ploughed into them on a zebra crossing...
As if awakening from a lifelong dream, they each find themselves in a strangely familiar place.
Guided by a kindly and enigmatic figure, they are led on a retrospective stroll through the wild wood of their former lives to a mysterious doorway, where they must face and embrace whatever lies beyond...
Shadow of the Night - The Short Documentary
The Documentary
SYNOPSIS
‘Iravin Nizhal Making’ is a documentary style film, giving a front seat view of the struggles and challenges behind creating the World’s First Non-Linear Single Shot Film Iravin Nizhal. With voiceovers by its writer, director, producer and lead actor Radhakrishnan Parthiban, the film has behind the scenes footage, footage from the actual film and interviews of its cast and crew.
This path breaking effort was filmed through an enormous set consisting of 59 set-ups, with over 300 actors including children and animals, 150 technicians, numerous costumes and make up changes, 50 years of time periods, special effects like rain and fire, all beautifully choreographed into a single shot and achieved after a whopping 90 days of rehearsals.
Despite numerous rehearsals, numerous surprises and challenges propped up for the crew that they had to overcome with improvisation and creativity. The documentary follows the crew’s emotional experience of pulling off all-consuming feat and take number 23 is the final film, a ‘never before’ experience.
One Last Laugh
Searching for Lily
When Dawn discovers Lily’s profession, the two have a heated argument. But when a punter becomes angry and violent towards Lily, Dawn intervenes and saves her daughter. This is a turning point in their relationship as Lily and Dawn reconcile and form a close bond, demonstrating how strong their relationship is despite their difficult circumstances.
Blue
Strings - Carmarthen Bay FF
G Flat
Seizing the opportunity that a night time staff shortage brings, he uses Grindr to invite 20 year old rent-boy Iestyn to visit.
To Ceri’s surprise, Iestyn is a Violinist at a near-by conservatoire who is supporting himself through sex work. An appreciation of contemporary orchestral music instantly bonds them; but when it’s time to get down to business, we find Ceri was looking for a very different experience to the one Iestyn had expected to provide.
The Song of the Shrike
The Windmill of Death
Performance
Finding Alaa
Synopsis:
Azdyne Amimour, a modest Parisian husband, father and grandfather. After a long and varied working life, at 74 he should be contemplating a peaceful retirement. But his days are fuelled by one overriding goal to find his missing granddaughter and make reparations for his son’s crimes.
On 13th November 2015, Islamic State launched a series of coordinated attacks on the Bataclan Hall and other Paris venues, killing 130 people. Azdyne’s son, Samy Amimour, was one of the three Bataclan attackers; as police approached and fired at him, his suicide belt exploded. Samy left behind a daughter, Alaa, born in Syria just days after the terrible events. And now Azdyne feels he can’t move on with life until he finds her. He feels responsible for her fate, as an innocent child, caught up in the trail of harm caused by Samy’s actions.
As his life and family unravelled in the wake of the attacks, Azdyne struggled to deal with guilt and shame, and with understanding the path that led his “quiet and thoughtful” son to perpetrating France’s worst terrorist attack in modern history. In the face of public disgust and fear, he actively sought ways to contribute to the national attempt to understand the tragedy, and to heal society and himself. In the years since 2015, one objective has sustained him – a vow to find the granddaughter he has never met and bring her home.
We meet Azdyne in 2019 as he takes initial legal steps towards finding Alaa. Recounting the events of that night in November 2015, it is clear that the guilt and pain live with him and with Sami’s mother, Mouna, still. We see a fruit that has grown from the despair of the attacks, the deepening friendship with George Salines, whose daughter Lola was killed in the Bataclan. Together, the two engage with ex-prisoners to help counter Islamic State propaganda, and are instrumental in a group which brings together the families of victims and families of perpetrators of terrorism, equally determined, and united, in not wanting to allow terrorism to further divide France. Over the course of several years, Azdyne learns piecemeal information about Alaa, her whereabouts and wellbeing, which fuel his desire to head to Syria to help her. But the path to Syria is perilous and blocked at many turns. Suddenly, in July 2022, the bittersweet news breaks: Alaa has been repatriated to France. She is safe, but Azdyne will still, for an indeterminate length of time, be unable to finally meet her.
Finding Alaa is the story of one man’s search for his granddaughter – and the story of loss, guilt, of the shattering effects of terrorism on families and society and the search for reconciliation by those left behind.This is the story of the other victims of Isis - those whose stories we have yet to hear.
Synopsis: (500 words max)
Azdyne Amimour, a modest Parisian husband, father and grandfather. After a long and varied working life, at 74 he should be contemplating a peaceful retirement. But his days are fuelled by one overriding goal to find his missing granddaughter and make reparations for his son’s crimes.
On 13th November 2015, Islamic State launched a series of coordinated attacks on the Bataclan Hall and other Paris venues, killing 130 people. Azdyne’s son, Samy Amimour, was one of the three Bataclan attackers; as police approached and fired at him, his suicide belt exploded. Samy left behind a daughter, Alaa, born in Syria just days after the terrible events. And now Azdyne feels he can’t move on with life until he finds her. He feels responsible for her fate, as an innocent child, caught up in the trail of harm caused by Samy’s actions.
As his life and family unravelled in the wake of the attacks, Azdyne struggled to deal with guilt and shame, and with understanding the path that led his “quiet and thoughtful” son to perpetrating France’s worst terrorist attack in modern history. In the face of public disgust and fear, he actively sought ways to contribute to the national attempt to understand the tragedy, and to heal society and himself. In the years since 2015, one objective has sustained him – a vow to find the granddaughter he has never met and bring her home.
We meet Azdyne in 2019 as he takes initial legal steps towards finding Alaa. Recounting the events of that night in November 2015, it is clear that the guilt and pain live with him and with Sami’s mother, Mouna, still. We see a fruit that has grown from the despair of the attacks, the deepening friendship with George Salines, whose daughter Lola was killed in the Bataclan. Together, the two engage with ex-prisoners to help counter Islamic State propaganda, and are instrumental in a group which brings together the families of victims and families of perpetrators of terrorism, equally determined, and united, in not wanting to allow terrorism to further divide France. Over the course of several years, Azdyne learns piecemeal information about Aicha, her whereabouts and wellbeing, which fuel his desire to head to Syria to help her. But the path to Syria is perilous and blocked at many turns. Suddenly, in July 2022, the bittersweet news breaks: Alaa has been repatriated to France. She is safe, but Azdyne will still, for an indeterminate length of time, be unable to finally meet her.
Finding Alaa is the story of one man’s search for his granddaughter – and the story of loss, guilt, of the shattering effects of terrorism on families and society and the search for reconciliation by those left behind.This is the story of the other victims of Isis - those whose stories we have yet to hear.
Synopsis: (500 words max)
Azdyne Amimour, a modest Parisian husband, father and grandfather. After a long and varied working life, at 74 he should be contemplating a peaceful retirement. But his days are fuelled by one overriding goal to find his missing granddaughter and make reparations for his son’s crimes.
On 13th November 2015, Islamic State launched a series of coordinated attacks on the Bataclan Hall and other Paris venues, killing 130 people. Azdyne’s son, Samy Amimour, was one of the three Bataclan attackers; as police approached and fired at him, his suicide belt exploded. Samy left behind a daughter, Alaa, born in Syria just days after the terrible events. And now Azdyne feels he can’t move on with life until he finds her. He feels responsible for her fate, as an innocent child, caught up in the trail of harm caused by Samy’s actions.
As his life and family unravelled in the wake of the attacks, Azdyne struggled to deal with guilt and shame, and with understanding the path that led his “quiet and thoughtful” son to perpetrating France’s worst terrorist attack in modern history. In the face of public disgust and fear, he actively sought ways to contribute to the national attempt to understand the tragedy, and to heal society and himself. In the years since 2015, one objective has sustained him – a vow to find the granddaughter he has never met and bring her home.
We meet Azdyne in 2019 as he takes initial legal steps towards finding Alaa. Recounting the events of that night in November 2015, it is clear that the guilt and pain live with him and with Sami’s mother, Mouna, still. We see a fruit that has grown from the despair of the attacks, the deepening friendship with George Salines, whose daughter Lola was killed in the Bataclan. Together, the two engage with ex-prisoners to help counter Islamic State propaganda, and are instrumental in a group which brings together the families of victims and families of perpetrators of terrorism, equally determined, and united, in not wanting to allow terrorism to further divide France. Over the course of several years, Azdyne learns piecemeal information about Alaa, her whereabouts and wellbeing, which fuel his desire to head to Syria to help her. But the path to Syria is perilous and blocked at many turns. Suddenly, in July 2022, the bittersweet news breaks: Alaa has been repatriated to France. She is safe, but Azdyne will still, for an indeterminate length of time, be unable to finally meet her.
Finding Alaa is the story of one man’s search for his granddaughter – and the story of loss, guilt, of the shattering effects of terrorism on families and society and the search for reconciliation by those left behind.This is the story of the other victims of Isis - those whose stories we have yet to hear.
KESTAV
KESTAV
The film KESTAV (CONTACT) is in the Cornish language (with some English) and was commissioned/made in Cornwall by Screen Cornwall and FylmK to promote the reviving Cornish language.