Doha Film Institute
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Many years ago, Hassan came home to the Jellaz cemetery in Tunis. Working in solitary but kept company by a tribe of compelling characters—thousands of spirits and one special woman—Hassan invites us into his singular life.
Hassan recalls the first night that Jellaz became his shelter. After burying his parents and two brothers, he rested his head at the foot of their graves, fell into a deep sleep, and felt his soul fly. Forty years later, Hassan is Jellaz’s guardian, stationed at the crossroads of two worlds. During the day, we follow Hassan as he greets the dead and living alike and services the space as needed—he gardens, builds, cleans, and helps with burial ceremonies. Sometimes he visits crowded neighbourhood cafés and blends into life among the living. The injustices and misery that he witnesses outside of Jellaz meddle with the joy and hope that he feels every day in his enchanted workspace, home, and eventually, deathbed. And then there is Sabrine. She knows what it’s like to live a rough and precarious life, and she too is looking for an earthly companion. As Hassan prepares for his own life after death, he shares with us his notes on mercy, memory, and love.

Credits

Director
Leïla Chaïbi
Screenwriter
Leïla Chaïbi
Producer
L'image d'après, Maud MARTIN, G Prod, Ghazi GHAZOUANI

About the Director

Léïla Chaïbi
Leila Chaïbi was initially a journalist before she began specialising in documentary filmmaking. After working several years as a cameraperson, she started her career in cinema. She is primarily interested in the question of identity and the Arabic world. 'La Brûlure', her first short documentary, paints the portrait of illegal immigrants who disappeared at sea, while he 'Tous brûlés. La Maison de
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