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The screening of the film will be followed by Q&A discussion with film Director Read Duzdar.

About the Film

59 Minutes, English Subtitles, 2013.

(Lama Brothers) film, is a documentary film produced by Palestine TV and directed by Raed Duzdar. The film talks about the life story of the two brothers, Badr and Ibrahim Lama and their role in establishing the beginnings of Arabic cinema, in which their film ( Kiss in the desert ) is considered the first narrative Arabic film which was screened in the city of Alexandria at the (Cosmograph Cinema) in 1927. In addition to their production of dozens of films, which many of them are considered from the early movies in Arabic cinema.

 The film follows the roots of Lama family, originally from (Al a’ama) family in Bethlehem, and then the migration of the family from Bethlehem to Chile in South America, and then to Alexandria and Cairo where they settled in Egypt. The film mentions the most important films they produced, and their family lives , and their visit to Palestine in 1936 to produce a narrative film.

The film did not forget to mention the first cinematic attempts and the pioneers of cinema in that era in Egypt. The film also sheds the light on the history of cinema in Palestine through the first attempts of films and movie theaters in Palestine before the Nakba . The film contains many interviews, and archival materials; photos, posters of films, documents, and clips from Lama Brothers films .

 And the film hosts many writers, artists and film critics, like poet Ahmed Dahbour, actor Ghassan Matar, and film historians Adnan Mdanat and Wajih Nada, and Dr. Nabil Shaath. locations and places of shootings of the film spread out to the cities of Alexandria, Cairo, Amman, in addition to Bethlehem and Ramallah in Palestine.

About The Director

Raed Duzdar is an independent Palestinian filmmaker and researcher. He has born in Jerusalem, and has a master degree in Business Administration. His interest of oral history of Palestine made him change his career path. Raed started his cinema world as a researcher of documentaries, and a producer and then a filmmaker.

He is the author of the documentary film “the Samaritans on the footsteps of Moses “ (2010).

His latest project is a documentary film on Jaffa based on oral testimonies of its original inhabitants; also he is working on “Mosaics of Jerusalem”, a series about minorities and sects in Jerusalem.

Raed’s documentaries considered as living documents about the unknown history of Palestinian people. His films won many prizes, and were screened in many film festivals around the world.