Batata (film)
| Batata | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Noura Kevorkian |
| Written by | Noura Kevorkian |
| Produced by | Paul Scherzer Noura Kevorkian |
| Cinematography | Noura Kevorkian |
| Edited by | Noura Kevorkian Mike Munn |
Production companies | Saaren Films Musa Dagh Productions Six Island Productions |
| Distributed by | Six Island Productions[1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 125 minutes |
| Countries | Canada Lebanon |
| Languages | Arabic Armenian |
Batata is a Canadian-Lebanese documentary film, directed by Noura Kevorkian and released in 2022.[2] The film is a portrait of Maria, a Syrian woman working in Lebanon whose life is upended by the Syrian civil war and its associated refugee crisis.[3]
The film had originally been conceived in 2009, prior to the outbreak of the war, as a portrait of Maria's father Abu Jamil and farmer Movses (Mousa) Doudaklian, two men who built a close friendship through years of working together on Doudaklian's potato farm in Lebanon despite the history of enmity between Lebanese Christians and Syrian Muslims. As the outbreak of the war turned the farm into a desolate refugee camp, its focus shifted more squarely onto Maria, depicting her determination to keep her family safe and united in the face of the larger forces that threatened to destroy them.[3]
The film premiered in January 2022 at the FIPADOC film festival in Biarritz, France.[4] It had its Canadian premiere in April at the 2022 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and streamed on the Hot Docs at Home platform.[3][5] The film is set to have its United States premiere at the Lighthouse International Film Festival in June 2023.[6]
Awards
At Hot Docs, the film received an honorable mention from the Best Canadian Feature Documentary award jury.[7]
It received three Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 11th Canadian Screen Awards in 2023, for Best Feature Length Documentary, Best Cinematography in a Documentary (Kevorkian) and Best Editing in a Documentary (Kevorkian, Mike Munn).[8]
Batata won a 2022 Peabody Award.[9]
It was a nominee for the Allan King Award for Best Documentary Film at the 2023 Directors Guild of Canada awards.[10]
References
- ^ https://www.academy.ca/2023/batata/
- ^ Jim Slotek, "Hot Docs '22: Batata Director on Life at a Lebanese Potato Farm/Refugee Camp through Syria and ISIS". Original Cin, April 25, 2022.
- ^ a b c Marc Glassman, "Batata Review: An Extraordinary Work Ten Years in the Making". Point of View, May 4, 2022.
- ^ Andrew Tracy, "International doc fest FIPADOC releases 2022 programming slate". RealScreen, January 7, 2022.
- ^ https://horizonweekly.ca/fr/batata-documentary-about-syrian-refugees-to-be-screened-at-torontos-hot-docs-film-festival/
- ^ World, International and U.S. Premieres Headline of Lighthouse Int'l Film Festival
- ^ Sadaf Ahsan, "Jacquelyn Mills’ ‘Geographies of Solitude’ wins Hot Docs’ best Canadian film award". Toronto Star, May 7, 2022.
- ^ Pat Mullen, "2023 Canadian Screen Award Nominations for Documentary". Point of View, February 22, 2023.
- ^ "83rd Annual Peabody Awards Announced," from PeabodyAwards.com, 5/9/2023
- ^ Taimur Sikander Mirza, "Women Talking leads film nominees for 2023 DGC Awards". Playback, September 20, 2023.
External links
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