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It’s a Long Way from Amphioxus

Forum Expanded 2019
© Kamal Aljafari
An old woman leans to the young man with the yellow book sitting next to her and asks, “What are they distributing here?” “Numbers”, he replies. In Berlin’s waiting rooms, where metal and wooden seats are nailed to the ground, people arrive after emerging from the seas. Here they wait.
Kamal Aljafari’s new short film once again collapses time, questioning the meaning of life in a system in which humanity is reduced to a number and the value of one’s future is measured by applications within grey hallways. Step into this black hole, where bones and flesh have become numbers in a queuing system. With surreal humor, this film observes the origins of our being versus the future of how we are defined. What have we become from our point of origin until today’s chaos of bureaucratic mazes? It’s a long way from Amphioxus, we all came from there.
by Kamal Aljafari
with Faysal Bibi Germany 2019 German 17’ Colour World premiere | Documentary form

With

  • Faysal Bibi

Crew

Written and Directed by Kamal Aljafari
Cinematography Christopher Turiello
Sound Design Gilles Benardeau
Sound Antoine Brochu
Production Manager Blandine Casen
Producers Kamal Aljafari, Sheyma Buali

Produced by

Kamal Aljafari Studio

Photos

Kamal Aljafari

© Brigitte Lacombe

Kamal Aljafari, born in Palestine in 1972, lives in Berlin. He works with moving and still images, interweaving between fiction, non-fiction, and art. Kamal’s past films include Recollection (2015), Port of Memory (2009), and The Roof (2006). He was a featured artist at the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar (NYC) and was a Fellow at Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute and Film Study Center.

Filmography

2003 Visit Iraq 2006 The Roof; 58 min. 2007 Balconies; 11 min. 2009 Port of Memory; 58 min. 2015 Recollection; 70 min. 2019 It’s a Long Way from Amphioxus

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2019