3000 Nights
DFI Cinema - Doha Film Institute
Mai Masri / Palestine, France, Jordan, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Qatar / 2015 / 103 min / Colour / DCP2K / In Arabic, English, Hebrew / Arabic, English subtitles
Themes: Based on a True Story, Drama, Psychological, Social Issues, Women
Rated: 
Parental guidance is advised for viewers under the age of 15. Individuals under the age of 15 are not admitted into cinemas unless accompanied by an individual aged 18 or over.
Description
Falsely accused of being involved in terrorist activity, Layal is arrested, interrogated, and incarcerated in an Israeli jail. As she becomes accustomed to being surrounded by hardened Israeli criminals and Palestinian political prisoners, all to the tune of the torment visited by cruel guards and a nearly sadistic warden, Layal discovers she is pregnant. Life in prison acts as a metaphor for living under occupation, where Palestinians are treated harshly and are subject to rules that do not apply to Israelis. This separation is everywhere, but is quietly underlined in the film with costume: while the Israeli women are allowed to wear what they wish, Palestinian inmates are uniformly dressed in regulation blue overalls.
Chained to a bed, Layal gives birth to a son, whom she names Nour and raises as lovingly as she can, with the love and support of her Palestinian cohorts. When they get wind of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, the traumatised women stage a strike to demand their fundamental rights. While their revolt is eventually met with a harsh crackdown, nevertheless, with resistance comes the hope for future freedom—marked here by the gently colourful clothing of now two-year-old Nour, a stark contrast with the otherwise dark and drab outfits worn throughout the institution.
This screening will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker.
Director
Mai Masri
Palestinian filmmaker Mai Masri studied Film at San Francisco State University and has directed several award-winning films that have been screened worldwide and received more than 60 international awards. Her filmography includes ‘Children of Fire’ (1990), ‘A Woman of Her Time’ (1995), ‘Children of Shatila’ (1998), ‘Frontiers of Dreams and Fears’ (2001), ‘Beirut Diaries’ (2006) and ‘33 Days’ (2007). '3000 Nights', Masri’s first feature-length narrative film, won the WIFTS Award and the Audience Award at the Valladolid Film Festival.
Credits
- Screenwriter
- Mai Masri
- Producer
- Mai Masri, Sabine Sidawi, Charlotte Uzu
- Cinematographer
- Gilles Porte
- Cast
- Maisa Abd Elhadi, Nadera Omran, Abeer Haddad, Raida Adon, Rakeen Saad