
HOPELESS

Other movies

SAIFY
Director: Wael Abu Mansour
At 40 years old, Saify Muhammed is a washed-up confidence trickster who owes money to everyone, including his ex-wife. Now he is trying his hand at blackmail. The year is 2000; Saify has a dilapidated music shop selling cassette tapes, including recordings of banned Islamic sermons he mistakenly thinks will turn an illicit profit. His sermon supplier is Al-Mahdi, shady religious advisor to the local bigwig Sheikh Asaad Aman, who has a name as a philanthropist. When Saify finds one tape containing a scandalous recording of the influential Sheikh Asaad, he thinks he’s finally in the money.

DREAMING OF LIONS
Director: Paolo Marinou-Blanco
For anyone who likes to laugh at events that should make you want to cry Dreaming of Lions will be your favourite movie of the year. This absurdist tragicomedy from Greek-Portuguese director Paulo Marinou-Blanco introduces us to Gilda, a terminally ill woman whose dying wish is for her painful existence to stop as quickly and peacefully as possible. When her attempts at ending her life fail, she seeks professional help and discovers the Joy Transition International. She attends their funny meetings, which bring new friends, a lover and 99 problems. However, when she finds out that the organisation is not what it seems, she and her new beau decide to take matters into their own hands with heartwarming results.