The only Arab film at the Berlin Film Festival.. So what is it?
In July 2024, the Lebanese actor, George Khabbaz, confirmed that he was completely busy with his new movie, “Jonah,” and that he was staying away from cinema and drama because he was preparing for a number of global tours for this movie.
Khabbaz said at the time, during an exclusive interview with Zahrat Al Khaleej: “I have international tours for the movie (Greece), which I filmed with the wonderful director Amir Fakhr El-Din, and German cinema icon Anna Schigula, and we have a tour of festivals, so I think I will… “I don’t have the time.”
The only Arab film at the Berlin Film Festival.. So what is it?
It has become certain that the film “Jonah” is reaping great success results, as it has been chosen to be the only Arab film to participate in the official competition of the 75th session of the Berlin Film Festival, which will be held from February 13 to 23, and this participation represents the global presentation. First for the movie.
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The only Arab film at the Berlin Film Festival.. So what is it?
George is a baker isolated on a remote island:
The film’s story and events take place entirely on the surface of a remote island completely isolated from the outside world. George Khabbaz, who plays the character “Mounir,” searches for complete isolation on this island, to contemplate his next step, which he wants to be his last after he has completely lost his passion for life. But fate brings him together with a quiet companion called “Valeska,” a character presented by international actress Anna Schygulla. Valeska greatly pities Mounir’s lack of will to live, and the film’s story revolves around this matter.
In press statements, the director of the work, Amir Fakhr El-Din, said: “The film (Jonah) began as a meditation on displacement, and on the quiet spaces it creates within and around us. “I wanted to explore what happens when the familiar disappears, when the sense of home and belonging is broken, leaving us to navigate the silence that follows.”
He added that the most important thing in the rhythm of the film’s story is: “Immersion, loss, and return. What disappears does not disappear forever, but it does not return without change.”
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The only Arab film at the Berlin Film Festival.. So what is it?
Global cooperation:
The film “Greece” embodies the meaning of internationalism with complete literalism, as it was produced by major companies in Canada and Germany, with the active participation of producers from Italy, France, Palestine, Qatar and Jordan. This production is represented, in detail, by: “Red Balloon Film” (Germany), “Microclimat Film” (Canada), and “Intramovies” (Italy), in cooperation with “Fresco Films” (Palestine), and “Metafora.” Production” (Qatar), and “Tabi360” (Jordan), with Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab participating as executive producers, and they are the founding partners of “MAD Solutions”, which It undertakes distribution tasks in the Arab world.
A large number of talents coming from different countries of the world worked with director Fakhr El-Din, including Canadian director of photography Ronald Plante, production designer Marie-Louie Balzer, and sound designer Queen Ill-sung, while Jordanian Souad Bashnaq handled the film’s music, and she had previously won a number of One of the international awards for cinematic music.
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The only Arab film at the Berlin Film Festival.. So what is it?
Due to its importance, and in confirmation of the extent of belief in it, and its great success, the film received support from several film festivals and funds, most notably: the Red Sea Film Fund, the Red Sea Market, the Royal Film Commission in Jordan, the German MOIN Film Fund, and the Eurimage Council. European Union, the Telefilm Canada Initiative, and the Society for the Development of Cultural Organizations (SODEC).
Waiting action:
Film lovers in the Arab world are eagerly awaiting the presence of the film “Jonah” in Arab festivals, and later in cinemas, due to its new story that has not been previously released, and the extent of global interest in it, especially from critics and filmmakers, and the names of the stars participating in it, as it participates in Starring alongside Khabbaz and Shigulla are: German-Turkish actress Sibel Kekilli, German Tom Plascia, Palestinian Ali Suleiman, and Lebanese Nidal Ashqar.
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