QCINEMA , / .,. \ 2D17. ij IRIS PRIZE Festival ij : ,tl. Official s I cuon. FORT RmUlBI, :. TI NA1 f. TIVA. 1-1r 0 1 FF11c1AL SELE TmN

Transcription

1 . -

2

3 1-1r 0 1 FF11c1AL SELE TmN QCINEMA FORT RmUlBI, :. TI NA1 f. TIVA 2D17 Official s I cuon : OFFICIAL SELECTION 2017 jt. ",,,.,. \, / ij IRIS PRIZE Festival ij,tl,, II!.'

4 synopsis

5 As the Syrian civil war rages, Sami (Noah Valentyn) has fled his hometown of Damascus and now lives in Amsterdam. He hopes to be able to build a home here and be able to live openly as a gay man. Most of all, he hopes to escape the ghosts of the past that still haunt him. A chance encounter brings him face to face with Johan (Daan Colijn). Self-assured, direct and sensual - Johan embodies the spirit of this city. Over the course of a night, some unsettling secrets are revealed that will make both men confront some harsh truths about the very different worlds they come from.

6

7 director s note When I was a child, my father, who was a refugee in India from Pakistan, told me a story. The year was 1947 and the British had just left India leaving it to freedom but also to imminent bloodbath. The country was broken into two parts India and Pakistan. And this partition had created a massive refugee crisis on the subcontinent that would lead to a genocide of unprecedented proportions. My father was nine when his family locked up their home in the Punjab province of Pakistan and fled. They were certain that they would come back everyone fleeing home was certain. In fact, they were so certain that they did not even take most of their valuables with them. They buried them in the ground under the mango or the guava tree in the front courtyard. All of their gold, silver, their women s bracelets, anklets, their children s amulets, their dreams, everything. They would be back home, soon. They never returned. Like millions of others who had crossed that arbitrary borderline, created overnight. A borderline that would remake the destinies of millions of people. This is a film about home. About what happens when home ceases to exist. As it has, for over five million people in Syria. As it continues to, for hundreds of thousands more. Right now. And what happens when a new place, a new country, a new land, is to be made home. This is also a film about ghosts. If we are the sum of our pasts, we are also the sum of the ghosts that have followed us from our past. The demons and the angels. And the scars. Some that stay with us for as long as we live. Some that never leave, some scars that we will do everything to hide. In an attempt to leave the ghosts of the past behind, to shoo them away. Finally, it is a film about what it means to not belong. Even at home. Especially at home. To be the other. To be queer. And maybe, just maybe, be able to find a new home. At peace, with the ghosts and the scars.

8

9 why this film now? The ongoing war in Syria has killed over half a million people and has driven another five million out of their homes. According to the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees), children and sexual minorities are amongst the highest risk groups among refugees. LGBT people who are inevitably part of the wave of refugees arriving in Europe remain highly vulnerable even when they have escaped the immediate threat to their lives and arrived in the West. They are doubly marginalized, as forced migrants and sexual minorities. Often, they face the threat of abuse and discrimination within their own communities, being The Other even amongst their own people. Scar Tissue aims to bring a very personal, yet universal, story of a gay Syrian refugee who has recently arrived in Amsterdam. And explores questions that anyone who has ever felt that they do not belong has had to face.

10

11 cast Sami Johan Bashir Drag Queen Noah Valentyn Daan Colijn Hassan Raad Marhon Donny Latupeirissa

12

13 crew Writer and director Producer Director of Photography Executive producer Editor Sound Design / Recordist Music Production Design Nish Gera Martijn Krediet Robin Vogel Ilana Rossein Robin Vogel Raoul Popma Lucas Mens Haniya Aslam Nawras Nader Dylan van Duyne Assistant Director Rukhshida David Make-Up KC van Ast Special Make-Up Lawrence Kelatow Hair Erwin de Waal Gaffer Lucas Mens Best Boy Sasha Mens Focus Puller German Margom Grip Tex Kleijn Clapper Loader Geke Schalkwijk Location Manager Ronald Elsinga Set Photographer Martijn Gijsbertsen Graphic Designer Gui Bosselaers Language Consultant Amr Al Samadi Additional Language Consultant Aziz R. Fakkas Catering Miguel Benavent Majd Al Hassan Benito Boedoe Special thanks to Club Church Bar Prik Gemeente Amsterdam GVB Amsterdam Sterk Waterlooplein Planetromeo Hansje Kalt

14 This project is supported by the AFK (Amsterdam Fund for the Arts) scartissueshortfilm