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| A World Not Ours – Photo Credit – TIFF Film Reference Library |
March 7 2013 – The frenetic pace in this settlement cannot be overlooked. The captivating smells of the central market, the engaging geopolitical discussions on street corners, and the old world traditions mixed with the youth of today are just some of the experiences that people call home. Even if that home is a congested, divisive Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon.
In a way, Director Mahdi Fleifel really never left the Ain El-Helweh camp given his family’s pedigree and the freedom he has to summer there from abroad. From this Palestinian refugee camp to his transplanted family life in Denmark and back again, A World Not Ours provides a intimate look by chronicling the sometimes humour, burdensome, angst-ridden and political lives of Fleifel’s extended family and friends in the camp. Opening on a panoramic image of the Ain El Helweh camp flavoured by the smooth stylings of Benny Goodman, Roy Eldridge and The Ink Spots echoes and ease and comfort that belies the decades of their struggles.
With personal recordings, historical footage and almost 20 years of family archives from 3 generations of the Fleifel family, Mahdi exposes a microcosm of camp life through the portal of family and friends. Chief among them are the humorous musing of his grandfather and uncle Said. But the most affected is Fleifel’s longtime friend, Abu Eyad. Disillusioned by unfulfilled promises and disgusted by political lies, Abu Eyad cannot wait to leave the camp to which he has no affinity. However, the desire to leave is tempered by the fact that for him, the world beyond the camp is uncharted territory; a harrowing reality for most Palestinians in exile.
Fleifel’s invasive first person narrative confronts a cast of characters and family member at their most entertaining and in some cases, their most vulnerable. And he makes not apologies for the frustrations the Palestinian people harbour when 70,000 refugees are forced to live in these conditions. A World Not Ours may sometimes sounds more speaker box than documentary but in the end its charm will win you over by providing insights into a conflict through voices that don’t always get heard.
Verdict: 3.5 / 5 – In the most challenging of places, family will always keep you together.
A World Not Ours
Dir.: Mahdi Fleifel
UK / Lebanon / Denmark
2012 / 93 Minutes / PG
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