“Fidai” by Damien Ounouri is a fascinating documentary in which a 70-year-old veteran of the Algerian War of Independence speaks about his years of struggle as an underground soldier for the National Liberation Front. — Archives DUBAI/TORONTO — The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) announced Thursday that two works by Arab filmmakers will be shown at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), which starts today and runs until Sept. 16. The festival, regarded internationally as one of the most successful cinematic events in the world, aims to provide exposure to participating films. The films screening at TIFF were selected and presented at the Dubai Film Connection, which aims to encourage the growth of film production in the Arab world. The award-winning director Annemarie Jacir's “When I Saw You” that won the Bahrain Film Production Company Award in 2008 has been shortlisted to participate in the prestigious Contemporary World Cinema section at TIFF, as has “Fidai”, a fascinating and emotive documentary by filmmaker Damien Ounouri. Masoud Amralla Al-Ali, Artistic Director of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), said: “Fostering opportunities for Arab filmmakers and supporting the development of the regional film industry are DIFF's core aims. “We are proud that the two films were chosen by the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), one of the most prestigious cinematic events in the world, to showcase the best of Arab cinema and expose the Arab perspective of storytelling to TIFF's audience.” Founded in 1976, the Toronto International Film Festival has served as a launch pad for many artists and filmmakers. The festival now screens over 300 diverse films from more than 60 different countries annually. Jacir's “When I Saw You” takes place in Jordan in 1967. Free-spirited 11-year-old Tarek (Mahmoud Asfa) and his mother Ghaydaa (Ruba Blal) have temporarily settled in the Harir camp in Jordan, but in the chaos they have been separated from Tarek's father Ghassan. Restless and uneasy, Tarek has trouble adjusting to the indignity of destitution and living on humanitarian handouts. Every day, he and his mother anxiously monitor the trucks unloading more and more refugees, longing to be reunited with Ghassan, but to no avail. “Fidai” by Damien Ounouri is a fascinating documentary in which Mohamed El Hadi Benadouda, a 70-year-old veteran of the Algerian War of Independence, speaks about his years of struggle as an underground soldier for the National Liberation Front. On the 50th anniversary of Algeria's independence, El Hadi recounts his hardship to his great-nephew Ounouri in “Fidai”, which is both a tribute to the anonymous heroes of a war that galvanized the imaginations of colonized people worldwide, and a critical reflection on the legacy that the war imprinted on the “new” Algerian society. — SG
