Filmmakers and creatives who have fled their countries and landed in the Netherlands - how do you ensure that they find their place here, that they are offered a creative outlet? The Buddy film Project Foundation offers a platform and a network to help them with this - with Buddy Film Casting and Buddy Film Productions.
During the first Buddy Film Night in Rialto, everyone is welcome to get to know each other, learn about the Buddy Film project and watch some beautiful films. The proceeds go to the project.
At 19.15 everyone is welcomed with coffee / tea and Arabian pastry, after which the program starts with two short films. Then the main film: The Way Home by Wael Kadlo, a documentary that premiered during the 2018 IDFA. Afterwards there is a drink on Rialto's mezzanine.
The host of the evening is Riom Soumete, editor, reporter, producer and The Buddy Film Project employee.
The Way Home
When filmmaker Wael Kadlo picks up his mother from the airport in Beirut, it seems like a rather warm family visit. But Kadlo, who was born in Damascus in 1980, has some questions he needs to ask her. His parents divorced when he was a toddler and he grew up with his grandmother. He didn’t see much of them after that. Kadlo’s painful tale comes out while he and his mother are cleaning green beans together. When she asks him if he calls his grandmother “mother,” her slightly accusatory tone speaks volumes.
It turns out that she’s not the only member of the family who neglected Kadlo’s needs as a child. When he became seriously ill as a teenager, the parental conflicts resurfaced in the face of the difficult situation at hand. Kadlo gets his parents to recount his history to him in chronological order—from their perspective. He asks questions, and abstains from reproaches. Their stories are intertwined with scenes of places from Kadlo’s youth that were of vital importance to him, and later became the venue for civil protests during the Syrian crisis. His mother has her opinions on that subject as well. (text: IDFA)
