Aflam Film Club to screen ‘When I Saw You’

AFLAM, Abu Dhabi’s monthly film club showcasing the best of independent Arabic cinema, will be screening ‘When I Saw You’ by Palestinian director, Annemarie Jacir. ‘When I Saw You’ will be screened on May 29, alongside the TROPFEST Arabia 2012 shortlisted film ‘Two’ by Egyptian filmmaker Mokhtar Talaat.

Attending the screening will be the prominent Palestinian director of ‘When I Saw You’ Annemarie Jacir. Known for directing the first Palestinian short film to be selected to compete as an official selection of the Cannes International Film Festival, Annemarie will end the evening with an open discussion about the film and will be available to answer questions from the audience.

‘When I Saw You’ explores the often tense relationship between a mother and her 11-year-old son, Tarek, as they flee across the border from Palestine into Jordan in 1967. Separated from his father and finding life difficult in a refugee camp, the boy (played by the newcomer Mahmoud Asfa) searches for a way home. A journey full of adventure, love, humor, and the desire to be free, but most of all a story about that moment in a person’s life when you wake up and find the whole world is open and everything is possible.

‘When I Saw You’ was Palestine’s official entry to the 2013 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film and was in the Official Selection at Toronto International Film Festival. It won the NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film at Berlinale 2013, the Special Jury Prize at Cairo Film Festival 2012, the Jury Prize at Oran Arab Film Festival 2012, the Don Quixote Award at Carthage Film Festival 2012 and Best Arab Film (New Horizons) at Abu Dhabi Film Festival 2012.

The short film ‘Two’ is an animated film about the relationship between a father and his daughter and the father’s decision not to ignore a past incident.