05.11.24, 20:30, Dromen, landschap & grenzen

Using a triptych of short films, filmmaker Fairuz Ghammam guides us through internal and natural spaces. From Syria we move to Tunisia, arriving at the steps of a university in Texas.

Ten years before filmmaker Ossama Mohammed gained international recognition with Stars in Broad Daylight (1988), he captured the wretched condition of Syria in Step by Step (1978, 23'). This documentary begins hopeful, with several village children talking about their dream jobs. But it soon becomes clear that this innocent candour will be short-lived.

The road, the house, the key, the animals, Bamssi. In Bamssi (2024, 26'), images with the urgency of an insta-story engage with the family abroad: Mourad and Fairuz, Tunisia and the world. You have to go up on the roof to see something of the surroundings: the railway behind the house. Away from home, away from home. Stray dogs and cats in front of the house. Without house, without home. The sound of the train carries a disturbing longing.

Finally, there is The Trip (2019, 21'), a short road movie through the majestic, rugged landscape that separates the Texas towns of Marfa and Alpine. Poet Eileen Myles is at the wheel, guiding their extraordinary passengers. ‘Are we a tumbleweed?’

The screening will be followed by an online Q&A with filmmaker Mourad Ben Amor.