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Seeking solace in surrealism
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends a moving depiction of an unusual response to horrors of war and imminent displacement

Nezouh (12A)
Directed by Soudade Kaadan

 


 
WRITER-DIRECTOR Soudade Kaadan presents a unique yet powerful and moving perspective of the Syrian conflict and Syrian refugees in this part drama part fairytale film.
 
Fourteen-year-old Zeina (impressive newcomer Hala Zein) and her family are the last to have stayed in their besieged hometown of Damascus. When a missile blows all their windows out and rips a giant hole in their home, her father Mutaz (Samer al Masri) still refuses to leave.  

They have no water, no electricity and Zeina’s bedroom ceiling is now open to the elements, yet Mutaz remains adamant. In fact, the idea of becoming a refugee sends him into a fury. On hearing the word displacement, he starts screaming and shouting at his wife Hala (Kinda Alloush) and daughter as he does not want that uncertain life for them.

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