To a Land Unknown

“In a way, it’s sort of the fate of Palestinians, not to end up where they started, but somewhere unexpected and far away.” These are words of the influential Palestinian-American thinker and writer Edward Said that open To a Land Unknown. Somewhere unexpected and far away means the Greek capital Athens in the case of Chatila and Reda. There they are hopelessly stranded after fleeing Lebanon. Chatila had to leave his family there and Reda has been battling drug addiction for some time. Both carry Palestine in their hearts and in ink on their bodies too. While the two cousins survive largely in invisibility, they put everything on the line - including their humanity - to save for fake passports. Their goal is Germany, their dream to open a café there together. Without wanting to take away from others what they themselves are fighting for or become that which they are just trying to escape from. If they were to lose their souls along the way, how far are Chatila and Reda willing to go for one last hope of a better life?
To a Land Unknown had its world premiere at Cannes, then toured festivals from London and Melbourne to Sarajevo and Shanghai, and was awarded as an international co-production in Munich, among other places. It is the first feature-length fiction film by Palestinian-Danish director Mahdi Fleifel, previously showered with awards for his documentary debut A World Not Ours (2012) and short films such as A Man Returned (FFG2016). This unnerving tour de force, which will leave no one unmoved, is somewhere at the crossroads between social realist drama and restless thriller. With a wide empathic and emotional range, Fleifel delivers a ballad dedicated to seemingly impossible freedom and friendship in bone-chilling circumstances, inspired by raucous film classics like Ladri di biciclette and Midnight Cowboy. Nadah El Shazly, a prominent voice from Cairo's underground music scene, provides the subtle soundtrack. As poetry-loving drug dealer Abu Love quotes from works by Mahmoud Darwish, Palestine's greatest poet: "I balance what is and what must be." Actors Mahmood Bakri and Aram Sabbah in tandem (believably) chronicle Chatila and Reda's tragic journey. To an unknown land, somewhere unexpected and far away.