Highland-Palestine helps bring screenings of Fadia's Tree to Inverness
SEVERAL Highland film groups have been able to screen a movie about the Palestinian diaspora, belonging, memory and friendship thanks to support.
Fadia’s Tree has been screened in Cromarty, Evanton, Ullapool and Helmsdale and reaches Inverness on Sunday, followed by a Q&A with director Sarah Beddington.
The film, following the story of Fadia Loubani, a Palestinian refugee stranded in Lebanon, reaches Eden Court on Sunday.
The director will discuss her experience of making the project and her relationship and friendship with the protagonist.
Spanning fifteen years, this story of a friendship that stays connected across a divided land and a fragmented people adopts a bird’s eye perspective to reflect on freedom of movement, exile and the hope of return.
In the movie, while millions of birds migrate freely in the skies, Fadia is stranded in Lebanon yearning for the ancestral homeland in Palestine she is denied. She challenges Sarah, the director, to find an ancient mulberry tree that stands as witness to her family’s existence – with only inherited memories, a blind man and a two-headed dragon as her guides.
Along the way, Sarah meets with ornithologists whose observations on the homing instincts of the birds inadvertently reveal the unresolved problems of the region. Spanning fifteen years, this story of a friendship that stays connected across a divided land and a fragmented people adopts a bird’s eye perspective to reflect on freedom of movement, exile and the hope of return.
Sarah Beddington will share with local communities her experiences in the creation of the movie and her unique role as both director and participant in the film.
She said: “I am honoured to have been invited to bring Fadia’s Tree to the Highlands, an area that is close to my heart. The tour of this film represents the most recent action by Highland-Palestine to spotlight, campaign for, and support the Palestinian people’s struggle for equal rights and self-determination, during a particularly bleak period of Palestinian history.”
Highland-Palestine said: “Highland-Palestine is committed to building a Highlands-wide network of support for the Palestinian people. In our past collaborations with the Highland Palestine Film Festival, we have always sought to take films to communities across the Highlands.
"We are delighted to be working with Timespan, Film Hub Scotland and Eden Court Cinema to bring Fadia’s Tree to a wider audience. The film is a testimony to friendship and the way in which two very different lives intertwine.
"The film charts the evolution of a very personal project to understand and transcend a deeply-felt Palestinian estrangement from home, a land, a history and a culture. It’s especially gratifying at this time to be able to bring the director of the film, Sarah Beddington, to talk about her part in the project and the growth of that relationship, and the possibilities it discloses."
It's on March 10, 1pm at Eden Court.
