A film by leïla albayaty
Leila Albayaty
After an accident that caused memory loss and several years of exile, a young French-Iraqi woman reconnects with her family to understand who she is. Gathered in the family home in the south of France, Leila confronts her father, Abdul, with his own past, the Iraq war, and decides to learn Arabic to set to music the poems he wrote for her. Language and music gradually lead her to long-repressed memories, guiding her towards the discovery of her origins and the Arab world. This is the odyssey of a woman who sings her story to reinvent herself, driven by an irrepressible desire to live.
* El Gouna Film Festival (Egypt) — World Premiere* Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (Greece) — International Premiere — filmfestival.gr* Annual Aarhus Film Festival (Denmark) — Official Selection + Award — aarhusfilmfest.com* Tetouan International Mediterranean Film Festival (Morocco) — Grand Jury Prize* Arab Film Festival Rotterdam (Netherlands) — Best Documentary* Cinéalma (Nice, France) — French Premiere* Brussels International Film Festival (BRIFF) (Belgium)* Beyond Borders Film Festival (Greece)* FIDBA Documentary Film Festival (Buenos Aires, Argentina)* 31st Quinzaine des Films Francophones (Paris, France)* Cinémania – Francophone Film Festival (Canada / Québec) — Screening at Cinémathèque Québécoise* ALFILM – Arab Film Festival Berlin (Germany) — Screenings April 25 & 26, 2025 — ALFILM Festival* Columbia University / Maison Française (New York, USA) — US Premiere, March 27, 2025 — issg.columbia.edu* Gaza Women Film Festival (Palestine)* Mostra Arabic Catalunya (Spain)* Carthage Film Festival (Tunisia)* Special Screening – Berlin — July 22, 2025, at Divan (Arabic Kulturhaus) with Q&A — Instagram* Jerusalem Arab Film Festival (JAFF) (Palestine) — Official Selection 2025 — jerusalemstory.com* Bozar (Brussels, Belgium) — Screenings January 22 & 26, 2025 (in presence of the director) — Bozar* Baghdad Film Festival (Iraq)- Lisbon Arab Film Festival, Portugal- Soundscreen Film Festival, Italy
⭐ Best Asian Film – Netpac Award (Iraq) – El Gouna Film Festival (Egypt)⭐ Grand Jury Prize – Mediterranean Film Festival of Tetouan (Morocco)⭐ Best Documentary – Annual Aarhus Film Festival (Denmark)⭐ Best Documentary – Arab Film Festival Rotterdam (Netherlands)⭐ Grand Jury Prize – Cinéalma (Nice, France)
Volte Films, Dérives
