
A SUMMER IN BOUJAD
Other movies

FARASAN BOAT 128 KM AWAY FROM ANCHORAGE
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
In 2016, a group of young men headed out on a short fishing trip around Farasan Island, off the coast from Jazan. Intending to be away for only an hour, they were soon driven off course in thick fog, heading unknowingly towards the war-torn Yemeni border. As they realized where they were and tried to head back, their boat ran out of fuel. For 90 hours, they drifted without food or water, constantly at risk from passing pirates or being shot from the shore. There were many moments when they despaired of surviving; then came a glimmer of hope.

EAST OF NOON
Director: Hala Elkoussy
Stuck in a sandy enclave in the middle of nowhere, aspiring musician Abdo divides his time between digging graves and creating music using household implements. Along with his Nunna, he is plotting his escape to a wider world while scheming to survive the everyday tyranny of the enclave boss, Master Shawky. A story that is very much about the power of story-telling, with some of the flavour of the Arabian Nights, the evocatively titled East of Noon is shot largely in black and white. This surface beauty gives its familiar theme of youthful revolt a surreal, fantastical quality, allowing ideas that would otherwise be taboo to float free.

SONGS OF ADAM
Director: Oday Rasheed
The year is 1946. Under the strict orders of their father, Adam drags his younger brother Ali to witness their grandfather's corpse get washed before burial. Their cousin Iman, their constant playmate, is excluded from the ritual because she is a girl. The sight of the corpse has a profound effect on Adam; he announces that he doesn’t want to grow up and, from that moment on, he stops aging. As the years pass, the villagers come to believe Adam is cursed, while his brother, grappling with his own aging, feels Adam should be institutionalized. Only Iman and Anki, a shepherd and Adam’s lifelong best friend, see his condition as a blessing, preserving in him the pure, innocent goodness of a child. A haunting and beautiful story set against the oases and dust storms of Iraq.