Since he began his film career over a decade ago, Egyptian-Luxembourgish director Adolf El Assal has successfully endeavoured to pinpoint the idiosyncratic nuances of the characters he portrays.
His latest film Full Memory is no different.
Now on show at Expo 2020 Dubai's Luxembourg Pavilion until January 30, the 12-minute short follows a Syrian refugee in Luxembourg, who, a decade after leaving his war-torn country, still has not dealt with a deeply traumatic event from his past.
“My first goal as a filmmaker is to create a cultural bridge of sorts between Europe and the Arab world and to break certain harmful stereotypes,” El Assal tells The National.
El Assal enjoyed international acclaim with his film Sawah, which delves into an Egyptian DJ’s experience while on his first visit to Europe, veering comedically into the action genre.
While showing Sawah at a festival in Denmark, El Assal met his partner in Full Memory, the Syrian-born, Danish actor-director Mazen Haj Kassem, 30.
Kassem plays the film’s protagonist, Ziad, who confusingly repeats the same experiences every day, in a neurotic effort to repress a dark event from his past.
Speaking to an unseen figure about how much better life is for him in Europe, Ziad recounts all the hardships of living in Damascus, such as the scarcity of gas and other resources. The viewer never sees who Ziad is talking to, only for it to become clear in the end.
“Ziad is the kind of character I love to play the most,” Kassem tells The National. “These complex individuals who are multifaceted and rather difficult to bring out. Not flat characters who are just filling a role in a scene.”
Though he has a comedic demeanour throughout the film, Ziad’s pain is showcased in snippets of lash marks on his back and his solitude.
The pair of filmmakers relate deeply to each other’s lives and experiences as naturalised European citizens with an Arab heritage.
Living in Luxembourg is a quintessentially multicultural experience, explains El Assal, on account of half of the tiny country’s population being of foreign origin.
He says people often think of Luxembourg as this obscure, rich country, with banks, big cars, mansions and luxury all around. But, as is usually the case, the reality is very different.
“There are people of every background living in Luxembourg, which I think makes it a truly unique place,” says El Assal. “And because of my Arab roots, I find it easier to tell that multicultural narrative through the experience of Arab immigrants in the country.”
Showcasing works by eight artists from seven different artistic disciplines, the theme of the project at Expo 2020 is Connecting Minds.
After spending a day co-writing the script with Kassem, who had already written an earlier version of it, El Assal also shot the film in a day before sending it to the project’s panel for review. They loved it.
“The film just fit really well with the theme of the exhibition,” explains El Assal. “The story is based on various experiences relayed to me by Middle Eastern refugees or immigrants who were living in Europe. I wanted to highlight how nostalgic they felt to the countries they came from.”
A central theme in the film is nostalgia and it is depicted as a psychological affliction that, for Ziad, has tragic implications.
“Ziad is afflicted with a severe case of nostalgia," says Kassem. "It’s something normal that affects all of us, not just Syrian refugees. It is just very severe in Ziad, because he refuses to see the truth and opts instead to live in a pseudo-schizophrenic loop that prevents him from confronting the horrible reality of the present.”
The film's title becomes apparent at the end of the film, when the viewer realises that, like a smartphone whose memory is full, Ziad can't save any new information past a certain point. He is tragically trapped by his nostalgia.
In the film, El Assal takes a varied and nuanced look at Arabness under different conditions, he says, which he drew on personal experience for, as he was born in Alexandria, Egypt and spent his early years in the UAE before moving to Europe with his family.
Meanwhile, Kassem drew on his experiences of being born in Syria and spending his childhood in Europe before returning to the Arab world as a teenager.
When he was 15, Kassem, his brother and his mother returned to Syria where they would live for seven years until the civil war forced them to flee back to Europe.
During his time in Syria, Kassem starred in a number of prominent roles in several acclaimed films and television shows.
The pair are currently in Dubai for the debut of their film at Expo 2020.
Sui Dhaaga: Made in India
Director: Sharat Katariya
Starring: Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma, Raghubir Yadav
3.5/5
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Read more about the coronavirus
OPINIONS ON PALESTINE & ISRAEL
Company Profile
Founder: Omar Onsi
Launched: 2018
Employees: 35
Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)
Investors: B&Y, Phoenician Funds, M1 Group, Shorooq Partners
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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2.15pm: Al Marwan Group Holding – Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
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2.45pm: Sharjah Equine Hospital – Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,000m
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Winner: MH Rahal, Richard Mullen, Elise Jeanne
4.25pm: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Cup – Prestige Handicap (PA) Dh100,000 (D) 1,200m
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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The view from The National
The Book of Collateral Damage
Sinan Antoon
(Yale University Press)
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