East of Noon — a feature film by Hala Elkoussy, 109′, 2024
premiere: Quinzaine des Cinéastes, Cannes, 2024

East of Noon is a satire on the inner workings of an ailing autocracy and its inherent vulnerability to youth’s unchained vision of a better world. The story unfolds in two spaces: SHARQ12, a sandy enclave situated in an industrial ruin; and the Sea, a fluid landscape and simultaneously a longed for state of freedom. How do you imagine the sea when you have never seen it?

The characters embody a core personal question: How is hope kept alive in a grim reality? They struggle with fear in quest for a freedom that is instinctive, but ill-defined, with a hovering dilemma: can one stay clean in a dirty world? It is the young artist Abdo who most longs for freedom. His music is his saviour. The stories of his grandmother Jalala provide further relief from the hopeless reality, but also perpetuate the status quo, reflecting the complex relationship of art to authority.

production: vriza, seriousFilm, Nu’ta Film

realized within the framework of De Verbeelding, a collaboration of Mondriaan Fund and Netherlands Film Fund | funders: De Verbeelding, Production Incentive, Amsterdam Fund for the Arts, Fonds 21, DOHA Film Institute

festival distribution: pascale@pascaleramonda.com