THE EXTRAORDINARY MISADVENTURES OF THE AMAZING BOY SUPPER-BLURRY
Director: Hassan El Hejaili
Little Zezo and his rascal brother are horsing around in the kitchen when the older boy discovers something amazing: he can put his hand into boiling tea without getting burnt. It is only the first of a series of strange changes that are about to come over him, earning him the name Super-Blurry Boy, but nobody seems to notice. Sister Nora just wants the boys out of the way; his parents are too busy arguing to see what is happening to their boy. By nightfall, he will have discovered a super-power nobody could have imagined. A whimsical comedy, shot in black and white, in the joyous spirit of early cinema.
THE CERTAINTY
Director: Ahmad Kurdi
Like the rest of his family, Saad is devoutly religious and observant, calling the faithful to prayer in his mosque. When his beloved nanny dies, he is shocked to learn she remained a Christian, but just as shocked when his father refuses to pay for the care of her corpse and accuses his so of weak faith for even considering it. Saad prays for divine guidance, but it is his human feelings are already telling him what he must do next.
TIED
Director: Yam Fida
Abdulmalik’s brother has died suddenly but, even as the family’s men gather in remembrance, he hides the truth from his blind father. When an uncle delivers the dead man’s clothes, Abdulmalik starts wearing his signet ring to avoid telling the truth. Does his father suspect, anyway? When his rosary breaks, he tells his surviving son it had reached the end of its life and cannot be mended. Abdulmalik sets about restringing the beads, but his father’s words are an omen.
WHEN THE SHELVES HYMN
Director: Hanaa Saleh Alfassi
After Mariam’s husband mysteriously disappears, she reluctantly takes their teenage son Saeed from their home in Jeddah to mountainous AIUla, intending to sell their family-owned antique shop. Saeed is sullenly resentful, detesting the move; Mariam struggles to stay in charge while she searches for the title documents she needs to make a sale. What she finds instead are unpaid bills, a video diary in which her husband confessed to severe depression and some newspaper clippings about suicide. It is a discovery that will change her outdated view of men’s role as she and her son together embrace a new, independent life.