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Istiyad Ashbah

Ghost Hunting
Panorama Dokumente 2017
© Les Films de Zayna, Arte France, Dar Films , Akka Films
Director Raed Andoni places a newspaper advertisement in Ramallah. He is looking for former inmates of the Moskobiya interrogation centre in Jerusalem. In his ad he asks that the men should also have experience as craftsmen, architects or actors. After a casting process that almost feels like role play, he arranges for a replica of the centre’s interrogation rooms and cells to be built to scale inside a hall – under close supervision from the former inmates and based on their memories. In this realistic setting the men subsequently re-enact their interrogations, discuss details about the prison, and express the humiliation they experienced during their detention. Using techniques that are reminiscent of the so-called ‘theatre of the oppressed’ they work together to dramatise their real-life experiences. Their reconstruction brings long repressed emotions and undealt with trauma to the fore. Working on the film takes its toll on the men – both physically and mentally. The director also appears in front of the camera; not only is he creating a stage for his protagonists, he is also coming to terms with his own fragmented memories of imprisonment in Moskobiya thirty years previously.
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by Raed Andoni
with Ramzi Maqdisi, Mohammed "Abu Atta" Khattab, Raed Andoni, Atef Al-Akhras, Wadee Hanani, Adnan Al-Hatab, Abdallah Moubarak, Anbar Ghannan, Raed Khattab, Monther Jawabreh France / Palestine / Switzerland / Qatar 2017 Arabic, English 94' Colour Documentary form

With

  • Ramzi Maqdisi (Abu Atta)
  • Mohammed "Abu Atta" Khattab (himself)
  • Raed Andoni (the director)
  • Atef Al-Akhras (the set dresser)
  • Wadee Hanani (the assistant director)
  • Adnan Al-Hatab (the "father" and set builder)
  • Abdallah Moubarak (the blacksmith)
  • Anbar Ghannan (the groom and poet)
  • Raed Khattab (the cheerful prisoner)
  • Monther Jawabreh (the visual artist)

Crew

Written and Directed by Raed Andoni
Cinematography Camille Cottagnoud
Editing Gladys Joujou
Sound Design Nicolas Becker
Sound Olivier Claude
Production Design Dominique Treibert
Assistant Director Wadee Hanani
Production Manager Bassem Jerbawi
Producer Palmyre Badinier
Co-Producers Nicolas Wadimoff, Philippe Coeytaux, Raed Andoni
Co-Production Akka Films Bernex
Dar Films Ramallah

World Sales

UDI

Produced by

Les Films de Zayna

Photos

Raed Andoni

Born in Amman, Jordan in 1967, he is a Palestinian director and producer who began his career in the film industry in 1997 as an independent producer. He is co-founder of Dar Films production company in Ramallah and Les Films de Zayna in Paris. His debut feature-length documentary Fix Me screened at both the Sundance Film Festival and at Cannes.

Filmography (documentaries)

2008 Improvisation 2009 Fix Me 2017 Istiyad Ashbah (Ghost Hunting)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2017