Happy Holidays
Scandar Copti | Palestine, Germany, France, Italy, Qatar | 2024 | 124'
Screenings
Sat 29 March H 20:00
Sat 29 March H 20:00
With Scandar Copti, member of the Official Jury of the Feature Film Competition 'Windows on the World'
Section
Original title
Yinʿād ʿalēkom
Synopsis
Rami’s Jewish girlfriend becomes pregnant, and she decides to keep the baby but leaves him, Rami’s mother wants to organize a sumptuous wedding for her eldest daughter, unaware of her husband’s bankruptcy and the youngest daughter embarrasses the family by losing her virginity. The secrets and lies of an Arab Israeli family at grips with social conditionings, the contradictions of Israeli society and the increasingly conflictual relationship with their Jewish fellow citizens.
Cast
Manar Shehab, Wafaa Aoun, Meirav Memoresky, Toufic Danial
Films Distribution
Fandango
Production
Fresco Films, Red Balloon Film, Tessalit Productions, Intramovies
Editing
Scandar Copti
Cinematography
Tim Kuhn
Editing
Scandar Copti
Language
Arabic, Hebrew
Subtitles
Italian
Premiere
--
Main awards
Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay (Mostra Internazionale del Cinema di Venezia, 2024), Hamburg Producers Award (Hamburg Film Festival 2024), Golden Alexander (Thessaloniki Film Festival 2024), Best Feature Film, Best Actress (Marrakech International Film Festival 2024), Special Mention Bridging the Borders Award (Palm Springs International Film Festival 2025), Aurora Award (Tromsø International Film Festival 2025).
Biography
Scandar Copti is a Palestinian filmmaker and visual artist from Yafa. Renowned for his distinctive approach to working with non-actors, he teaches this technique at New York University Abu Dhabi and internationally. His debut feature film, Ajami (co-directed with Yaron Shani), won the Camera d'Or Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009 and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 82nd Academy Awards. His second film, Happy Holidays, premiered at the Mostra del Cinema di Venezia in 2024 and won the Orizzonti Award for the Best Screenplay. Copti is also the recipient of the prestigious Sutherland Trophy and the Council of Europe Film Award. He is a member of the Feature Film Competition Jury in FESCAAAL 2025.
Filmography
2024 - Happy Holidays, ff
2009 - Ajami, ff