Screening will start at 12:00 Noon US EST; 18:00 Europe; 19:00 Palestine, run time, 15 minutes, Arabic language., English subtitles. The film screening will be followed by Q&A discussion with film director.
SYNOPSIS
Haunted by her mother’s death and recurring attacks on her city, a young girl becomes obsessed with death. As her father tries to distract her through the making of a stop-motion film, reality invades their world. When his efforts to shelter his daughter fail, fantasy and imagination cross paths to help her and in that fraction of time, story frees and a touch of mar mama's magic saves.
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
This film is a personal and universal exploration of how parents in war zones struggle to protect their children's psychology and give them security. It was inspired by my own experience as a father who lost his wife, which made my daughter fearful of losing me too. I also drew inspiration from a therapist from Gaza who shared his insights with me, and from my students in Bethlehem who faced death and loss many times.
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.
Majdi El Omari
DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY
Majdi El Omari (Producer, Writer, Editor and Director). Majdi El Omari is a Palestinian/Canadian filmmaker. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in filmmaking from the Cairo Institute of Cinema in Egypt, and a Master in Fine Arts in Film Production (MFA) from Concordia University, in Montreal, Canada. After working in the Middle East as an assistant director and production manager on various feature and documentary films, El Omari became a filmmaker, scriptwriter, producer, and editor. El Omari’s short films d’auteur have been selected in several international festivals. They tell stories that grow out of the existential situation of individuals living in a world that excludes them. The focus is on their alienation, their desire to communicate, and their search for solace as they confront political or social forces. Standstill was his debut feature film. El Omari lives between Haifa and Montreal. He is currently writing his next feature film “The Woman of the Bees” while teaching fiction filmmaking at Dar al-Kalima University in Bethlehem.