JCC 2012 / Official Competition / Narrative Feature Films

A group of African men leave Senegal in a pirogue captained by a local fisherman to undertake the treacherous crossing of the Atlantic to Spain where they believe better lives and prospects are waiting for them.

In Tetouan, at the northern edge of Morocco, three young men decide to rob a jewelry store. The heist goes awry, and their destinies part drastically.

Those who have fully enjoyed their bodies cannot be submissive. And those who never have? Can they survive the slavery of solitude and impotent acceptance of what they can't change or embrace? This is the every day story of two women taking care of their sick man.

Satché is about to die. He decides to make his last day on this world the day of his life.

Karima, a Parisian photographer, visits Algiers after her patriarch falls ill. Her return unveils buried memories and conflicts. She navigates her roots and unresolved matters in the city she once cherished.

In 1977, Kh'lil Khalsawi, a law professor in Tunisia, under the ruling party's instructions, would represent the party in a league of human rights that has been founded not long ago. His mission is to defend the official positions inside the league during this turbulent time when the government and labor union are on bad terms.

Two teenage girls escape the war in Angola and have to establish a life in Lisbon.

When a forty-year-old divorced father discovers that he needs to undergo an operation, which he can not afford, within the next 4 days, he finds himself forced to deal with the life he isolated himself from for the longest time.

1975, Mozambique's rebirth as an independent nation. The young revolution sweeps the streets of Maputo clean of prostitutes and bad habits. The prostitutes are sent to re-education camps deep in the countryside, where they will become "new women" - loyal comrades of the new nation. As the "clean-up" takes place, Margarida, a 16-year-old girl from the countryside, is mistakenly taken. Drawing on the stories of real women, Virgin Margarida is a dramatic exploration of a little known chapter in Mozambique's history. A chapter that made no allowance for individuality and enshrined male domination as an ideology.

Brahim has a chance encounter with a mysterious woman he knew 20 years ago. Because of her, he committed a murder and now has to return home to face his tumultuous past.

A fictional account of the lives of the men responsible for the suicide bombings in Casablanca in 2003.

1967. The world is alive with change: brimming with reawakened energy, new styles, music and an infectious sense of hope. In Jordan, a different kind of change is underway as tens of thousands of refugees pour across the border from Palestine. Having been separated from his father in the chaos of war, Tarek, 11, and his mother Ghaydaa, are amongst this latest wave of refugees. Placed in "temporary" refugee camps made up of tents and prefab houses until they would be able to return, they wait, like the generation before them who arrived in 1948. With difficulties adjusting to life in Harir camp and a longing to be reunited with his father, Tarek searches a way out, and discovers a new hope emerging with the times. Eventually his free spirit and curious nature lead him to a group of people on a journey that will change their lives. When I Saw You is the story of people affected by the times around them, in search of something more in their lives. A journey full of adventure, love, humor, and the desire to be free. A story of the human spirit that knows no borders.

Thanks to the "civilian agreement" law, an Islamist is pardoned and reinstalled in society. He soon understands law doesn't erase the crimes he committed.

Two young Tunisian women strive for the same emancipation enjoyed by men.

Palestine 2002. A journey between the apparent and the hidden sides of this land, between the bitter reality and the dream, history and myth. A quest for the depth of human tragedy between the reality and the dream of the artist.

Mahmoud was part of the armed groups coerced by the Egyptian Government which carried out attacks on protestors in Tahir Square the 2nd of February 2011. Since then, Mahmoud has lost his job, been subjected to humiliating treatment, and been ostracized by his own community that live close to the Pyramids. He and his family are close to despair when he meets Reem, a secular young Egyptian divorcee and modern-thinker who works in advertising. Reem is a fervent ecologist who lives in a wealthy neighbourhood of Cairo. This will be the encounter of two people but also of two different worlds.

After his father died, Tony was pulled out of school by his mother; and when she passed away, he made his way by selling cigarettes on Princess Street, famous in Abidjan for its exciting nightlife. Now 21 years old, Tony is bitterly convinced that his future has been sacrificed, and is desperate for a way out of the ghetto.

The film follows Emirati 16 year-old Mansoor and Kaltham as they struggle with traditions and conventions on their journey towards adulthood. Bound by family and deeply rooted values, the pair must find the courage to forge their paths.

Mariama, a 17 year old, denies the husband that her father obliged her to marry. Yoro, an idealistic politician opposes the current military power. Both will end up in prison and try by all means to find a thin ray of hope.