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Places of the Soul

director: Hamida Issa

original title: Places of the Soul

country: Qatar

year: 2023

running time: 73 min.

synopsis

The death of the film director’s mother hit her very hard. She was just a child when this happened, and memories fade with the passage of time. Thus, the home videos that the most important woman in her life extensively shot begin to enter the picture. The documentary, with the poetic diction of the author's haunting voice, chronicles her journey from the sands of Arabia to the icy Antarctic, where she participated in a popular-science expedition. It is the contrast of two worlds, two completely different places, that brings her to question the titular places of the soul. Where do our memories remain? Where do we really belong at home? And where do we keep those who have already left us?

“I'm the first Qatari woman in history to go to Antarctica, so this journey is a spiritual one and an exploration into matters of tradition, the environment, and the greater question of loss.”

Source: Khaleejesque

biography

Hamida Issa was one of the first women to help establish cinematography in Qatar and across the Arab Gulf . Her mother, who always kept a video camera handy when shooting home videos, inspired her to pursue film. In her own films, she chronicles the stories of her home locations, be it Doha, London or elsewhere.

more about film

director:	Hamida Issa
producer:	Hamida Issa, Justin Kramer
script:	Hamida Issa
photography:	Christopher Moon
editing:	Hamida Issa
sound:	Rana Eid

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