FRI, JANUARY 19 | MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BOSTON
7:00 pm | Opening Film
ALAM (The Flag)
2022 | NARRATIVE DRAMA | 110 MIN
BY FIRAS KHOURY
FILM SYNOPSIS
In a Palestinian town, Tamer and his friends lead a typical high school student’s life, until the arrival of the beautiful Maysaa’. To please her, Tamer agrees to take part in a mysterious flag operation on the eve of Israel’s Independence Day, which is a mourning day for Palestinians.
VENUE
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
465 Huntington Ave
Boston MA
SAT, JANUARY 20 | MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BOSTON
12:30 pm | Copresented by Jewish Voice for Peace Boston and Boston Underground Film Festival
A House in Jerusalem
2022 | NARRATIVE DRAMA | 104 MIN
BY MUAYAD ALAYAN
FILM SYNOPSIS
Young Rebecca is forced to move with her father from the UK to Jerusalem, in the hopes that a new beginning can help her heal from her mother’s sudden death. Soon after settling into an old house in a neighborhood known as the Valley of the Ghosts, a series of mysterious events begin and Rebecca is blamed. Diving deep into the mystery of the house and the mystical city of Jerusalem, Rebecca sets out on an enigmatic journey to discover what hides in the shadows of the house.
VENUE
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
465 Huntington Ave
Boston MA
3:00 pm | Copresented by Transnational Literature Series at Brookline Booksmith
Mediterranean Fever
2022 | NARRATIVE DRAMA | 108 MIN
BY MAHA HAJ
FILM SYNOPSIS
Waleed (40) lives in Haifa with his wife and children and dreams of a writing career while suffering from chronic depression. He develops a close relationship with his neighbor (a small- time crook) with an ulterior plot in mind. While the scheme turns into an unexpected friendship between the two men, it leads them into a journey of dark encounters.
VENUE
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
465 Huntington Ave
Boston MA
THUR, JANUARY 25 | MASSART DESIGN & MEDIA CENTER
7:00 pm | Copresented by Art Education at MassArt & Arlington International Film Festival
Notes on Displacement
2022 | DOCUMENTARY FEATURE | 80 MIN
BY KHALED JARRAR
FILM SYNOPSIS
The news is full of disturbing images of overcrowded boats and vast tent camps. But how much do we really know about what refugees are going through? Notes on Displacement takes a deep dive by following a single family on a grueling journey: destination Germany. Their fear, disorientation, and solidarity is palpable.
Nadira, an elderly Palestinian, has been a refugee since the age of 12. Now she has to evacuate to Damascus, too. She and her daughter Mona feared for their lives there, but the idea of a safe existence elsewhere is a distant dream. Filmmaker Khaled Jarrar receives unsettling videos and voice messages as they cross to the Greek island of Lesbos. He joins them there, on the long road to a new life.
Jarrar has personal reasons for going through this experience in order to eliminate, through his own images, the distance so dominant in Western media coverage. He worms his way through the thronging crowds, gets lost in the night with his group, discovers how dangerous language barriers can be, and wanders around in the dehumanising camps. And in a sense he—along with the viewer— becomes a true member of this family.
VENUE
MASSART Design and Media Center
621 Huntington Ave
Boston MA