Screening will start at 12:00 Noon US EDT; 18:00 Europe; 19:00 Palestine, running time, 79 minutes, English & Arabic language, English subtitles. The film screening will be followed by Q&A discussion with film director Carole Mansour.
Please click here to watch the film trailer.
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SYNOPSIS
This film is a poignant, sometimes sad, sometimes painful, sometimes humorous, often absurd
story of a multiple journey: the journey of loss as the director’s mother Aida struggled with losing herself to Alzheimer’s disease, but finding solace in her repeated “returning” to the Yafa and Palestine of her youth; the journey of the loss of a parent; and the ultimate return journey back to Yafa where Aida would finally find rest and be herself once more.
Close to four years after Aida’s passing away, the director’s friend and colleague Tanya wholives in Ramallah came to visit Beirut. When she heard about Aida’s wishes and yearning forYafa, Tanya suggested that she herself carries the ashes back. The film accompanies directorCarol Mansour as she engineers a way to return her mother to Yafa in search of eternal rest and peace for her. A return that is aided by an unlikely set of friends and strangers all coming together to facilitate what should have been a simple journey. This journey is at the same time very private and personal, while resonating with hundreds of thousands of Alzheimer’s sufferers and their families as well as hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees awaiting their return home.
This film is a tribute to the lost past of the director’s family, an attempt to restore part of both an individual and a collective memory, and a poetic nod and affirmation to all those exiled Palestinians forbidden from returning to their hometowns, even after death.
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
When I started filming my mother (Aida), it was for purely personal reasons, for once she developed Alzheimer’s disease, she steadily lost her memory and her sense of identity. At the time I felt the need to “hold-on” to my mother before the disease took over. She was in Montreal while I was in Beirut and my visits became more frequent as she became weaker.
Ever since I started filming my mother in 2006, the conversation would inevitably return to Yafa and her childhood and youth there before 1948: her house, her school, her family, her friends. Despite having had a very privileged life in Beirut, Cairo, and Montreal, it was always Yafa. Over time, her stories became less and less coherent, except when she began reminiscing about Yafa. It was those memories that we returned to time and time again, and it was those memories that continued to bring a sparkle to her eyes.
Aida had been clear that she wished to be cremated when she passed away. After the funeral I returned to Beirut bringing with me all the footage of our interviews along with part of her ashes. I always felt that it would have been her desire to one day return to Yafa for her final rest. I held onto the ashes in the hope that one day an opportunity would present itself for me to take her back.
Close to four years later, I finally had the strength to watch the footage. A clear theme emerged: She wished to return.
By chance, a friend and colleague who lives in Ramallah came to visit me. When I told her about my mother’s yearning for Yafa, Tanya suggested that she herself carries the ashes back. As a US citizen, she would be able to do it. What started as a casual conversation, developed massive momentum, as we divided the ashes into two packages, one of which she gave to another American colleague who would carry them to Jerusalem. We filmed this process on her iPhone for me to show to friends and family. She also filmed the entire trip to Ramallah, so that I could be with them virtually. I received tens of short videos as they made it back to Palestine, meeting strangers along the way willing to help Aida on her return journey, all of which was captured on video.
Once I had all this material, it was clear to me what I needed to do, I needed to make a film documenting my mother’s double journey: her journey of loss as she struggled with Alzheimer’s losing herself, but finding solace in her repeated “returning” to the Yafa and Palestine of her youth; and the ultimate return journey back to Yafa and Palestine where she would finally rest and be herself once more. Both journeys are at the same time very private and personal, while resonating with thousands of Alzheimer’s sufferers and their families as well as thousands of Palestinian refugees awaiting their return home.
The story could be real or imagined in the mind of the father, whom we see writing a script in the beginning of the film. During the film, the harsh reality's presence is very heavy and there is no way to change it or to escape it so, fantasies, imagination and creativity become an option.
(Mar Jeris) Saint George is a Palestinian national figure, some people called him (Sidna Al- Khader). Muslims and Christians celebrate him, and they believe his mother was a Palestinian from Lydda. Today, there are many churches named after him. They consider him a figure of protection who fought evil. In the film, the girl turns him into her mother.
I want the viewers to experience the dilemma of parents dealing with their kids in such a situation by immersing them in the film's characters and their feelings through audio/visual means. Like my previous works, I don't need to explain everything. I care about the experience and the flow of a story. The viewers can interpret the film as they like.
DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY
Carol Mansour is an independent documentary film maker with over 25 years in documentary production who has achieved international recognition and honor for her films, with over seventy worldwide film festival screenings and official selections worldwide.
Her films have won numerous prestigious awards. Carol’s work reflects her concern for human rights and social justice, covering issues such as migrant workers, refugees, environmental issues, mental health, rights of the disabled, war and memory, right to health, and child labor.
Carol is Lebanese/ Canadian of Palestinian origin.
List of Documentary Film
- “Aida Returns” (2023); 76’; End of life with Alzheimer’s Diseases and “return” to Palestine
- “Sisterhood” (2022); 36’; Migrant Domestic Workers’ solidarity in Lebanon
- “Shattered: Beirut 6.07” (2020); 17’; the aftermath of the Beirut port blast
- "Thank you Soma" (2018); 55’; the relationship between a young Lebanese woman and the migrant domestic worker who raised her
- "Men on Hold" (2018); 72’; the plight of Syrian refugee men in Lebanon
- "Stitching Palestine" (2017); 78’; 12 Palestinian women share their stories on the backdrop of
traditional embroidery
-"It’s Just Another Place" (2016), 36’; experiences of people living with Down Syndrome and their
families
- "We cannot go there now, my Dear" (2014), 42’; the double-refugee experience of Palestinians from Syria
- "Not Who We Are" (2013), 71’; Syrian refugee women in Lebanon
- "We Want To Know" (2012), 42' ; exploring the memory of the Lebanese civil war
- "Where do I begin?" (2011), 36'; mental health in Lebanon
- "All for the Nation" (2011), 52'; examining the inability of Lebanese women to give the nationality to spouses and children
- "I Come From a Beautiful Place" (2010), 33'; Iraqi and Sudanese refugees in Lebanon
- "Maid in Lebanon II: Voices from Home" (2008), 40'; the connection of female migrant domestic
workers with their home countries
- "A Summer Not to Forget" (2007), 27'; chronicling the Israeli war on Lebanon of 2006
- "Invisible Children" (2006), 26'; working children
- "Maid in Lebanon" (2005), 27'; highlighting the plight of female migrant domestic workers
- "100% Asphalt" (2002), 26'; street children of Cairo
List of Short Documentary Films
- “Those Still Standing” (2021), 5'; One year after the Beirut Port blast
- “Shattered: Beirut 6.07” (2020), 17'; The aftermath of the Beirut Port blast in the community
- “A COVID-eo Diary” (2020), 5'; Managing daily life under Covid-19