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Introduction

Palestine, Germany, France, Italy, Qatar / 2024 / 123 min
Director：Scandar COPTI

The story of a Palestinian family living in Haifa, Israel. The film is divided into four chapters, separate but intertwined, that each focus on a different member of the family. At the same time they form a set of variations that take as their theme how state, society and culture impose their control and how that pressure changes and destroys people’s lives on a personal level. Honing in on the conditions and human relationships of a single family, from the core unit and extending out the deeper cultural political background of ethnicity, nation and gender is revealed to us, encompassing not only the divisions between Palestinians and Israelis in Israel, but also military nationalism and limits placed on women by the patriarchy. The second feature film (first as sole director) by Palestinian director Scander Copti, who won the Camera d'Or Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009 for his film “Ajami,” co-directed with Israeli director Yaron Shani. ”Happy Holidays” was screened in the Orizzonti section of the Venice Film Festival, where it won the award for Best Original Screenplay.

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