60 min
Mohammed Bakri
Documentary
2005 - Palestine
Toronto Premiere
The film Since You Left by renowned Palestinian actor Mohammad Bakri, is neither a eulogy to his friend and mentor, the writer and politician Emile Habibi, nor an account of the late author's life and work. Instead, it is a poignant and deeply personal letter to the departed. Much of the film is centred on two events which traumatized Bakri's life in the years after his mentor's passing. The first is his nephew's involvement in a deadly attack on a public bus in the city of Meiron, and the subsequent backlash against the entire Bakri family. The second is the censorship of his film Jenin Jenin that was banned in Israel for two years upon its release. Bakri imparts this information as if he were sitting across a cafe table from Emile Habibi, talking over coffee and cigarettes.
Screened with To the Arabs of Haifa, a Special Message