51ST THESSALONIKI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
December 3 - 12, 2010
PRESS RELEASE
MOHAMED AL-DARADJI SPOTLIGHT
Iraqi director Mohamed Al-Daradji, recently named Variety’s Middle Eastern Filmmaker of the year, will attend the 51st Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) on the occasion of a Spotlight on his work. Al-Daradji will also participate in the 51st TIFF International Jury.
The TIFF aims to continue fostering and developing a creative and dynamic exchange between European and Arab cinema. During the 49th TIFF (2008), an extensive Middle East Spotlight showcased a number of films from the region, accompanied by a publication and a roundtable on the subject of filmmaking in the Arab world.
In addition, the TIFF will institute a significant collaboration with the international Festivals of Abu Dhabi and Doha, thus also promoting Greek film production to these particular markets.
Mohamed Al-Daradji is a prolific filmmaker, committed to making fiction and documentary films that accurately present the conditions of his country and the lives of his compatriots, always through a prism of compassion and by focusing on everyday human stories. His latest film, Son of Babylon, received a grant by the Abu Dhabi IFF, while his two new projects, the documentary In My Mother’s Arms and the fiction feature Train Station, are both supported by the recently created Abu Dhabi IFF Fund Sanad.
The director will present a selection of his films and discuss them with the Festival guests and audience. Four films will be screened during the 51st TIFF:
The short film My Name Is Mohamed, executive produced by Al-Daradji, is a film created out of the collaboration between 13 Iraqi and 11 Jordanian student filmmakers, mentored by industry professionals from Europe, America and the Middle East.
Ahlaam, his first feature, shot in Baghdad in the midst of bombings by American soldiers, an extraordinary filmmaking achievement; its companion documentary, War, Love, God and Madness, which documents the horrors and dangers that the cast and crew of the film experienced during the shoot.
His latest film, Son of Babylon, again deals with the chaos, instability and unrest in Al-Daradji’s country via the story of a 12-year-old Kurdish boy who travels with his grandmother in northern Iraq to find his father, a soldier missing since the Gulf War.
THE FILMS:
Ahlaam (Dreams), 2005, 110’, Iraq/Netherlands
My Name Is Mohamed, 2008, 11’, Iraq/UK/Jordan
Iraq, War, Love, God & Madness (documentary), 2008, 82’, Iraq/UK
Son Of Babylon, 2009, 91’, Iraq/UK/France/Netherlands/Palestine/UAE/Egypt
