OURS IS A COUNTRY OF WORDS
by Mathijs Poppe
2017
Ours is a country of words takes place in Shatila, a refugee camp built in Lebanon when thousands of Palestinians fled their country in 1948. The story begins at an unknown moment in the future, when the dream of the Palestinian refugees to go back to Palestine becomes reality. The film balances on the thin line between fiction and documentary, between dream and reality. Families are preparing for their fictional return, while it slowly becomes clear that this dream is far removed from their daily life in the camp. Through the words they use as actors to talk about the dream of returning to their homeland, we can understand more deeply what it means to them to live in exile.
Festivals & Screenings
Visions du Réel 2018 (Switzerland)
Film Fest Gent 2017 (Belgium)
Under Construction Festival 2018 (Palestine)
Lebanon: Days of Tomorrow 2018 (Belgium)
Encuentros del Otro Cine 2018 (Ecuador)
Theater Aan Zee (Belgium)
FICVALDIVIA 2018 (Chile)
Les Ecrans Documentaire 2018 (France)
Palestine Filmer C’est Exister 2018 (Switzerland)
One World Romania 2019 (Romania)
Festival Ciné Palestine 2019 (France)
Ciné-Palestine Toulouse Occitanie 2020 - (France)
Festival Cinéma de la Paix 2020 (Tunisia)
Writer & Director
Mathijs Poppe
Producer
Elisa Heene
Sound
Ben De Raes, Ernst van Hagen, David Slotema
Sound Design
Kwinten Van Laethem