Standstill
The mission of the Centre d'art et essai de la Cinémathèque québécoise (CAECQ) is to primary program Quebec-made documentaries and independent fiction, as well as international documentaries, animated and foreign films, while encouraging opportunities for meetings between the public and the artists. Its programming is presented in conjunction with the Cinémathèque québécoise’s under the label New releases.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker and the film's crew
After the political crisis in Kanesatake’s reserve, Arihote, a Kanienkehaka "Mohawk", sometime war photographer, and his wife parted ways. While trying to help his son who has committed a misdemeanor, Arihote, whose life is in a rut, happens upon the revenge killing of a neighbor by Wedad, a Palestinian refugee. Loath to get involved in a police investigation, Arihote finds himself helping Wedad to leave the crime scene. Arihote finally begins to rebuild his relationship with his son, and to focus on resolving his feelings about both his wife’s departure and his father’s suicide. The chance encounter between Arihote and Wedad sets each of them on a new course.
Majdi El-Omari
Majdi El-Omari is a Palestinian-Canadian filmmaker. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in filmmaking from the Cairo Institute of Cinema in Egypt, and a Master in Fine Arts in Film Production (MFA) from Concordia University, in Montreal. After working in the Middle East as an assistant director and production manager on various feature and documentary films, El-Omari became a filmmaker, scriptwriter, producer and editor. His short films d’auteur have been selected in several international festivals. They tell stories that grow out of the existential situation of individuals living in a world that excludes them. The focus is on their alienation, their desire to communicate, and their search for solace as they confront political or social forces. Standstill is his debut feature film. El-Omari lives in between Haifa and Montreal now is writing his next feature film The woman of the bees while teaching fiction filmmaking in Dar al-Kalima University in Bethlehem.
Bio & photo: Les films de l'autre
