Concrete Valley

Rashid is a doctor, Farah an actor, although that was back in Syria, and their life here in Toronto is different. It’s been five years already, time enough for their son Ammar to become a boy, time enough for routines to become established, although not time enough for everything to have settled; the calm and sunlight speak also of stasis. Rashid attends English classes, helps the neighbours with their medical ailments, tries to fix the boiler, while Farah works at a drugstore and has joined a local community initiative; they are together, but they are also apart. It’s not a hard existence but it’s not any easy one either. It’s even difficult to find quite the right adjective to describe it: one situation follows another and none receives greater emphasis than the others, each is unique, multivalent and ambivalent in its own way, quietly conveying a set of meanings that accumulate but don’t define. It’s like the forest that Rashid walks into at the beginning of the film and, in some way, he’s maybe there the whole time: silent, ominous, peaceful, detached, apart. A place of refuge, a place of reflection, a place of fear, a place that’s real.
by Antoine Bourges
with Hussam Douhna, Amani Ibrahim, Abdullah Nadaf, Lynn Nanume
Canada 2022 Arabic,  English,  Subtitles: German,  English 90’ International premiere

With

  • Hussam Douhna
  • Amani Ibrahim
  • Abdullah Nadaf
  • Lynn Nanume

Crew

DirectorAntoine Bourges
ScreenplayAntoine Bourges, Teyama Alkamli
CinematographyNikolay Michaylov
EditingLindsay Allikas
Sound DesignLucas Prokaziuk
SoundLucas Prokaziuk
Production DesignAmir Kiani
CostumesAsoomii Jay
Assistant DirectorMeelad Moaphi
ProducersShehrezade Mian, Antoine Bourges
Executive ProducersKazik Radwanski, Dan Montgomery

Produced by

General Use

Vancouver, Canada

Antoine Bourges

Born in Paris in 1983, he went on to study film. His short and medium-length films as well as his feature debut Fail to Appear have been screened at international festivals. Concrete Valley is his second feature film. In addition to his directing work, he teaches film at the University of British Columbia.

Filmography

2010 Woman Waiting; 15 min. 2012 East Hastings Pharmacy; 48 min. 2015 William in White Shirt; 12 min. 2017 Fail to Appear; 70 min. 2022 Concrete Valley; 90 min.

Dates

Tue Feb 21 18:00

Delphi Filmpalast

Q&A after the film with German Sign Language Interpreter

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Wed Feb 22 10:30

Zoo Palast 5

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Sat Feb 25 19:00

Cubix 7

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Sun Feb 26 21:00

Delphi Filmpalast

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