Doha Film Institute
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Yaser — and his father in Aleppo — decide to make a collaborative film that challenges the distance between them from Sweden to Syria. The film becomes a place for family members to meet.
In a small town in central Sweden, Yaser embarks on a journey searching for inspiration to make a film that is related to his new place, but he finds isolation and emptiness surrounding him. His father is in Aleppo and, through phone calls, tries to help him in his search. He advises him not to make a personal film and make a film far from what is happening in Syria. While Yaser was researching the origin of this passion, his father tells him that he had an unfulfilled dream of studying cinema and becoming a filmmaker forty years ago. But the selection committee refused to nominate him to study in the Soviet Union, so he decided to travel to work in West Germany. Hearing that makes Yaser more eager to pursue his dream in filmmaking. However, Sweden adopts a stricter immigration policy, and he has to find steady work in order to renew his resident permit. Yaser decides to move to Stockholm to study cinema and make a film with his father about two generations and a family separated by war—about two experiences of exile that are united by their inherited passion and love for cinema.


Credits

Director
Yaser Kassab
Screenwriter
Yaser Kassab
Producer
Zenloop Productions

About the Director

Yaser Kassab
Yaser Kassab is a filmmaker and producer known for his award-winning documentary trilogy, which spans more than a decade and offers a personal and poetic perspective on the Syrian tragedy. His trilogy has screened globally at prestigious festivals and platforms including the Venice Biennale, Cinéma du Réel, Visions du Réel, IDFA, RIDM, Festival dei Popoli, Cairo, Carthage and Oran International Ar