Among the five films scheduled in preview during the last session of Carthage Cinematographic Days (JCC) Held from December 18 to 23, 2020, the Jordano-Palestinian film 200 meters Directed by the young Ameen Nayfeh, of which it is the first fictional feature.
Before arriving in Tunisia, 200 meters had made his world premiere at the Venice Mostra, in the Venice Days section, where he won the BNL People’s Choice Award (Public Prize) prize. He was then selected at several other festivals, including The El Gouna Film Festival where he had won three prizes: the Prix Fipresci, the public prize for a film illustrating humanitarian themes and the prize for best actor for Ali Sulimanwho plays the main role.
During this same El Gouna festival, Ameen Nayfeh was also awarded the Mena Massoud Prize from theEda Foundation and May Odeh, the film producer, had received the award Middle East and North African Region Talent Award famous magazine Variety. Odeh is the first producer women winner of the prize, who is now in her fourth year. “”Get the price of Variety is a huge accomplishment because no one really appreciates the producer’s work“Said Odeh. “”So, this price is also dedicated to all producers of the Arab world, especially in Palestine, because it is a fight, it is a miracle to make a film ”.
200 meters was also chosen to represent Jordan at the Oscar for the best international film at the 2021 Oscars.
Mustafa (Ali Suliman), his wife Salwa (Lana Zreik) and their children form a happy family. Although Mustafa is a husband and a loving and considerate father, Salwa criticizes him for having refused Israeli identity documents when he had had the opportunity which would have made their daily life. Indeed, this family faces a big problem: the mother and the children live in Israel while the father lives in the West Bank. In reality, they live two houses, so close that every evening they put themselves in their respective balconies and communicate with each other, but at the same time, they are so far away that they can only be together at the cost of hours of expectations and administrative formalities. Between the two houses passes a wall, a huge wall of shame that separates them.
Every day, Mustafa must undergo a huge queue and present papers in order to cross this wall and go to work on the Israeli side and see his family.
One day, after the usual long wait, he cannot cross, his magnetic card being expired and himself having a problem with his fingerprints. As it is the weekend, he cannot renew his license immediately, but needing work and wanting to see his family, he goes to a smuggler to join his own in an illegal way. The price requested being prohibitive, he gives it up and returns home. Only a phone call from Salwa told him that his son is in the hospital following a car accident.
Mostafa can no longer wait, he must find a way to go on the other side of the wall.
He will see another passer, who asks him for a higher price. He no longer has the choice, he pays to be able to take place in the van which will make him cross the wall, with other passengers in the same situation as him: the young Rami (Mahmoud Abu Eita) who is looking for work, the activist Kifah (Motaz Malhees) and the German photographer Anne (Anna Unterberger), who a priori turns a documentary.
He will therefore have to make 200 km, to cross 200 meters. 200 km of suspense, danger, unexpected, meetings …
200 meters – every day, Mustafa (Ali Suliman) must make long waiting threads to cross the wall
200 meters is a very beautiful film which deals with a political subject, while relying on the daily life of Palestinian citizens. It is a touching work which shows the reality of many people, and which is inspired by the personal history of the director, who has experienced a similar situation. Indeed, originally from Shweika, a village of West Bank located north of Tulkarem, he had been separated very young from his maternal family living in Arara, a village located on the Israeli side of the wall and he had suffered a lot. The director also clarified that not only had he always experienced this situation, but that the reality is even more complicated and harder than in the film, and that he had to rewrite his scenario several times to lighten him because he was told that he exaggerated, but he did not exaggerate, but told what the Palestinians really live to cross the wall.
“” I wanted to make a film that reflects the political situation, but which is also entertaining “Said the director,” At the beginning I wanted to do a road movie, but I found that it was not social enough. My goal is to entertain, but at the same time passing a political message and denouncing this situation that we live daily. My actors play stories that are true, that my friends, my family and many Palestinians live every day. Besides, to be as authentic as possible I chose as filming the real entry checkpoints to Israel and the real roads that lead. I wanted people all over the world to see what this wall represents in our daily lives, the repercussions it has on the feelings between members of the same family, on discomfort, the difficulties of working, to find themselves … It is also to stick as close as possible to the reality that I have shown other characters, like that of Anna, who is a character who is part of our reality and that I have crossed, try to make money on the despair of their ».
200 meters – Mustafa (Ali Suliman) facing the long wall.
It took the young director Ameen Nayfeh, seven long years to be able to make his film, and that essentially because he could not find money. We reproached him for the theme of the film, which according to some is exhausted, especially in documentary films. He also had to rewrite the scenario eight times to try to move away as much as possible, and for the film to be less hard. 200 meters was finally able to see the light of day thanks to the young producer May Odeh who really fought to find co -producers and bring together all the necessary budget. And she was right, 200 meters is a very very beautiful film, very well made, with a beautiful story and good actors. But who in addition has managed to touch the public as well as professionals. AMEEN NAYFEH also said that it was really happy that out of the eleven prizes won by the film to date, five are public prices.
200 meters – Ali Suliman in the role of Mustafa
The two best actor prizes for Ali Suliman won at the El Gouna festival (Egypt) and at the Antalya Film Festival (Türkiye) are really deserved. The actor was excellent in his role as Mustafa. He knew how to give him a real and human dimension, without overplaying and without paying at any time in the melodrama. He knew how to be Mustafa, this ordinary man in an extraordinary situation. Besides, the director said he wrote the script, thinking of Ali Suliman from the first moment. He was his character and fortunately he had accepted the role as soon as he read the script.
The downside in Tunisia of 200 meters is scheduled for January 6, 2021, if all is well!
Neïla Driss
