Doha Film Institute
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In Paris, a Frenchman battles cancer while his wife wants an abortion; a Romani girl looks for someone to adopt her sister; a Syrian immigrant boy tries to survive by acting in the cinema.
This docu-fiction uses the device of a stolen iPhone to depict the struggles of several Parisians, both born-and-bred and immigrants, whose layered gazes generate a map of the multi-faceted French capital. we discovers images of the owner and his pregnant wife preparing to welcome their child into their world. In a teenage gypsy girl’s hands, the iPhone captures snaps of her bohemian family’s lifestyle in Paris – but then the phone is stolen again. Now it is in the possession of a teenage Syrian refugee, who plunges us into his universe as he documents his wanderings around the arrondissements with spontaneous images of himself and those he meets along the way. These photos and short videos unveil the mysterious lives of the people of Paris, as well as the refugees who have settled in Paris to find a better life.

Credits

Director
Mahdi Ali Ali
Screenwriter
Mahdi Ali Ali

About the Director

Mahdi Ali Ali
Mahdi Ali Ali is a Qatari filmmaker and educator renowned for his contributions to cinema and the development of emerging filmmakers. Holding an MFA from EICAR, the International Film School of Paris, he has directed several acclaimed short films, including ‘Champs Elysées, I Love You’ (2009), ‘The Gulf Habibi’ (2011), and ‘Amphitheater’ (2019). His work often explores themes of identity, cultural
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