Feature film
الأبطال يولدون مرتين
Salah Dehni · 1977
Synopsis
Fouad is eleven. He lost his father and mother in the 1967 war and has since lived under the roof of an old man, in a refugee camp south of Gaza. He has grown up amid incursions, dynamited houses and funeral processions. One day he decides that he will not stay and watch, and tries to join those who resist. The soldiers spot him, and the chase begins.
Context
One hundred and ten minutes in colour, produced by the state organisation in 1977, from a short story by Ali Zein al-Abidin al-Husseini, which the director adapted himself. He was fifty-two years old and had a quarter of a century of criticism behind him: it is his only experience of directing fiction, after about ten documentaries. Georges Lutfi al-Khoury was in charge of the cinematography, Nouri Rahibani of the music, and the cast included Imad Hamdi, Mona Wassef and Sabah Jazairi.
Who it is for
Nearly two hours, in Arabic, never released in France. Its approach is one of emotion and heroic fable, seen from a child's height.
Prizes and reception
A Syrian critic ranks it among the works that flatter national sentiment and exploit patriotic fervour.