This document provides information about three films being screened as part of the Films from the Southern Mediterranean film tour across Ireland from October 6-21, 2013. The films being shown are The Attack, directed by Ziad Doueiri and based on a novel about a Palestinian surgeon whose wife is suspected of involvement in a suicide bombing; Zero, a crime thriller set in Casablanca and directed by Nour-Eddine Lakhmari; and Coming Forth by Day, Hala Lotfy's debut film about a woman caring for her sick father in Cairo. The screenings will take place at the Mermaid Arts Centre in Bray, the Galway Film Society at the Town Hall Theatre, and the Triskel Arts

1. October 6-21 2013
Mermaid
Arts Centre
GALWAY
FILM SOCIETY
TRISKEL
ARTS CENTRE
3films3venues

2. Dir: Ziad Doueiri / 102 mins / Lebanon,
France, Qatar, Belgium / 2012 / Cert: Club
/ Arabic, Hebrew / English subtitles
Working as a Palestinian Israeli surgeon,
Amin Jaafari, has successfully negotiated
the religious and cultural divide in Tel
Aviv. He is an admired and respected
member of his profession. Both he and
his wife Sihem are fully integrated into
the liberal non-traditional Israeli society
they inhabit.
Their perfect lives are upended however
when a suicide bomb in a local restaurant
kills 17 people and police suspect Sihem
is involved.
A stunned Jaafari is haunted by how
he could have missed the signals.
In dreamlike sequences he revisits
his most intimate encounters with Sihem
looking for clues.
Following his intuition, Amin enters the
Palestinian Territories alone to look for
answers. There he plunges into ever more
dangerous places and situations where he
is unaccepted and unwelcome.
By the end of his journey Amin is forced
to confront a deeper, more appalling truth
than he had ever expected; his inability to
see who his wife truly was and his failure
to understand the reality that created her.
Based on the popular novel, L’attentat,
written by Algerian novelist Yasmina
Khadra, this gripping and suspenseful
film explores a complex political situation
through a heart breaking personal story.
Ziad Doueiri was born in Lebanon in 1963. He left at 20 to study in the US before graduating
in 1986 with a degree in film from San Diego State University. He worked from 1987 to 1997
on numerous films as a camera assistant in Los Angeles including several early features from
Quentin Tarantino. In 1998 Ziad wrote and directed his first film West Beirut which earned him
international critical acclaim followed by his second feature Lila Says in 2004.
THEATTACK

3. Dir: Hala Lotfy / 95 mins / Egypt, United
Arab Emirates / 2012 / Cert: Club /
Arabic / English subtitles
Soad lives with her mother and bed-ridden
father on the outskirts of Cairo. While
bright sunlight and the sounds of the city
can be made out behind the half-closed
shutters, everything in the flat exudes
sickness and stagnation.
Her mother works nights in a hospital and
has barely any energy to spare during the
day. Soad too is no longer young, having
resigned herself to caring for her father
and putting her own life on hold.
The camera patiently follows her
movements and daily activities that have
become routine, capturing her frustration
as well as moments of great tenderness.
Hala Lotfy’s impressive debut focuses
on the relationship between light and
shadow, within and without, life and death.
Al-khoroug lel-nahar, the idea of emerging
into light, is the literal translation of the
title of the ancient Egyptian Book of
the Dead.
Soad’s longing is palpably directed
outside. But when she leaves the flat in
the evening and wanders alone through
Cairo by night, it becomes clear just how
far she has already distanced herself
from her own needs. And yet at the end
of the night begins a new day that may
still bring change.
- Berlin Film Festival Programme 2013.
Hala Lotfy was born in Egypt in 1973. She graduated from Cairo University in 1995 with a degree
in economics and political science before studying at the Cairo Film Institute. She worked as an
assistant director for the international TV broadcaster Al Jazeera before she began shooting her
first feature, Coming Forth by Day, in 2007. Filming was interrupted by political unrest before
completion in 2012.
COMINGFORTHBYDayAl-khorouglel-nahar

4. Nour-Eddine Lakhmari was born in Safi on Morocco’s Western Atlantic coast in 1964. At the
age of 19 he emigrated to France to study pharmacy but quickly changed his mind to follow his
passion for cinema. His first short film was shot in Oslo, Norway and earned him a place at the
Norwegian Film Academy. His first feature Le Regard was released in 2005 followed by Casa
Negra in 2008. Zero is his third feature.
Dir: Nour-Eddine Lakhmari / 112 mins /
Morocco / 2012 / Cert: Club / Arabic,
French / English subtitles
A bold and atmospheric exercise in
film noir set against the vibrant
backdrop of contemporary Casablanca,
cop drama Zero is a stylish, absorbing
and impressively made film, driven by
a wonderfully intense performance by
Younes Bouab as a troubled cop Amin
Bertale, nicknamed ‘Zero’ by those
around him.
Overwhelmed by a sense of futility and
loss, by the corruption that surrounds
him, and by the constant needs of his
disabled, abusive father - a scene stealing
performance by the late Mohamed Majd
who played the father to great effect
in Le Grand Voyage - he has to make a
change, to turn his life around.
When he meets with a mother searching
for her lost daughter, his decision to help
her sees him descend into a dark and
steamy world of brothels and prostitution
where he finds himself under threat from
both gangsters and corrupt police alike.
Writer/director Nour-Eddine Lakhmari
borrows certain classic film noir
elements, but brings to the film a fresh
and energetic sense of pacing, strong
characters and a real appreciation for
the cop-in-turmoil genre.
Zero has proved to be a big hit with local
audiences in Morocco.
zero

5. From Morocco in the west to Syria in the east, the countries
that fringe the southern part of the Mediterranean are rarely
out of the news. But the often one dimensional view that is
presented can’t and doesn’t tell the full complex picture of
everyday life in this diverse and challenging region.
Films from the Southern Mediterranean,
now in its second year thanks to funding
from the Arts Council, tours three films from
this region to three arts venues in Ireland.
Reflecting the vibrancy and rich cultural
tradition of the region, the films selected
are deliberately different in tone and texture:
The Attack is a political thriller but it is also
a love story; Zero follows some well know
Hollywood cop drama conventions but is
set in Casablanca; Coming Forth by Day
is a contemplative chamber piece about
family relationships.
This year the tour takes in Galway Film
Society at the Town Hall Theatre, Mermaid
Arts Centre in Bray, and for the first time
Triskel Arts Centre in Cork. The programme
aims to surprise and engage audiences,
whether you know a lot about the region -
maybe that’s where you came from originally
- or you’d like to get behind the headlines
to arrive at your own conclusions.
We’d like to say a big thanks to each of
the venues participating in the tour.
The project would not have been possible
without funding from the Arts Council
under their Touring and Dissemination of
Work Scheme. We also received support
from New Communities Partnership.
Films from the Southern Mediterranean
is a joint project by Maretta Dillon and
access › cinema.

6. zero
Mermaid
Arts Centre
Galway
Film Society
triskel
Arts Centre
Mermaid Arts Centre,
Bray, Co. Wicklow
Booking / Information
Tel: 01 272 4030
www.mermaidartscentre.ie
Galway Film Society,
Town Hall Theatre, Galway
Booking / Information
Tel: 091 569 777
www.tht.ie
Triskel Arts Centre,
Tobin Street, Cork
Booking / Information
Tel: 021 427 2022
www.triskelartscentre.ie
The ATTACK
Monday, Oct 7, 8.00pm
zero
Saturday, Oct 12, 4.00pm
zero
Sunday, Oct 6, 6.30pm
COMING FORTH BY DAY
Monday, Oct 14, 8.00pm
COMING FORTH BY DAY
Sunday, Oct 13, 6.00pm
COMING FORTH BY DAY
Monday, Oct 7, 6.30pm
zero
Monday, Oct 21, 8.00pm
The ATTACK
Sunday, Oct 13, 8.15pm
The ATTACK
Tuesday, Oct 8, 6.30pm
SCREENINGS2013