
HARKA
Other movies

SNOW WHITE
Director: Taghrid Abouelhassan
Both Iman and her younger sister dream of finding true love, within the strict parameters of life. For Iman, there is an obvious obstacle: she is a Little Person, only 119 centimeters tall, which puts her out of the running for an arranged marriage. Instead she goes online, hiding her size and compensating with her big laugh and big personality. Her sister has an offer of marriage, but Khaled’s family has second thoughts when they meet Iman. To put things off, the man’s mother insists on a top-of-the-range refrigerator as a dowry. A light-hearted but fascinating mix of issues around marriage, disability and sisterhood, with a magnetic star performance by Mariam Sherif at its very big heart.

In-Conversation with Emily Blunt
Director: Emily Blunt
Academy Award nominee Emily Blunt has established herself as one of Hollywood's most versatile talents through transformative performances spanning action, drama, horror, and musicals. Her recent Academy Award nomination for Oppenheimer (2023) adds to an impressive collection of accolades, including SAG and Golden Globe awards. Blunt recently starred in The Fall Guy with Ryan Gosling and Pain Hustlers alongside Chris Evans. Her breakthrough role in The Devil Wears Prada earned BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations, while her performances in A Quiet Place and Mary Poppins Returns (2018) showcased her range, with the former earning her a SAG Award. Notable films include Sicario, The Girl on the Train, and Into the Woods. Beginning her career on London's stage opposite Dame Judi Dench, Blunt has consistently delivered acclaimed performances across genres. She is set to star in the upcoming action-adventure film The Smashing Machine.

QUIET LIFE
Director: Alexandros Avranas
Sergei and Alina, both teachers, have fled persecution in Russia with their two daughters to Sweden, where they have applied for asylum. They do their best to fit in: the parents work hard, the children throw themselves into their Swedish school lives and the family welcomes regular inspections, proving what excellent Swedish citizens they would be. It is a shock when their application is rejected, after which the younger daughter Katja collapses into a coma caused by Child Resignation Syndrome, a well-documented phenomenon among refugee children. The callousness of the authorities and its institutions, which seem designed to strip everyone of humanity and hope, is chilling, only just trumped by the film’s core values of justice and resilient love.

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.