Leaves fall in all seasons

This film is made up of mobile phone footage shot by immigrant workers on building sites in and around Makkah between 2008 and 2013. Most of the footage was shot for the benefit of these workers’ families. The files were transferred to the artist’s phone using Bluetooth while other material was originally uploaded to YouTube. Some contributors have asked to remain anonymous. This footage records what these men considered pivotal and spectacular moments, from a mass protest to the heavenly ascent of a man bestriding a crescent moon. It also provides a narrated and theatrical introduction to the quotidian reality of this site of religious pilgrimage seen from the perspective of an immigrant worker. (Henry Hemming)

Ahmed Mater, born in 1979 in Saudi Arabia, lives and works in Abha, Saudi Arabia.