Highland-Palestine helps bring screenings of Fadia's Tree to Cromarty, Evanton, Ullapool, Helmsdale and Inverness
THREE Ross-shire film groups are set to screen a movie about the Palestinian diaspora, belonging, memory and friendship.
Fadia’s Tree will be screened in Cromarty, Evanton, Ullapool, Helmsdale, and Inverness, each followed by a Q&A with director Sarah Beddington.
The film, following the story of Fadia Loubani, a Palestinian refugee stranded in Lebanon, will be presented at Real to Reel (Ullapool) Evanton Community Cinema, Cromarty Community Cinema, Eden Court and Timespan (Helmsdale).
The director will discuss her experience of making the project and her relationship and friendship with the protagonist.
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Spanning fifteen years, this story of a friendship that stays connected across a divided land and a fragmented people adopts a bird’s eye perspective to reflect on freedom of movement, exile and the hope of return.
In the movie, while millions of birds migrate freely in the skies, Fadia is stranded in Lebanon yearning for the ancestral homeland in Palestine she is denied. She challenges Sarah, the director, to find an ancient mulberry tree that stands as witness to her family’s existence – with only inherited memories, a blind man and a two-headed dragon as her guides.
Along the way, Sarah meets with ornithologists whose observations on the homing instincts of the birds inadvertently reveal the unresolved problems of the region. Spanning fifteen years, this story of a friendship that stays connected across a divided land and a fragmented people adopts a bird’s eye perspective to reflect on freedom of movement, exile and the hope of return.
Sarah Beddington will share with local communities her experiences in the creation of the movie and her unique role as both director and participant in the film.
She said: “I am honoured to have been invited to bring Fadia’s Tree to the Highlands, an area that is close to my heart. The tour of this film represents the most recent action by Highland-Palestine to spotlight, campaign for, and support the Palestinian people’s struggle for equal rights and self-determination, during a particularly bleak period of Palestinian history.”
Highland-Palestine said: “Highland-Palestine is committed to building a Highlands-wide network of support for the Palestinian people. In our past collaborations with the Highland Palestine Film Festival, we have always sought to take films to communities across the Highlands.
"We are delighted to be working with Timespan, Film Hub Scotland and Eden Court Cinema to bring Fadia’s Tree to a wider audience. The film is a testimony to friendship and the way in which two very different lives intertwine.
"The film charts the evolution of a very personal project to understand and transcend a deeply-felt Palestinian estrangement from home, a land, a history and a culture. It’s especially gratifying at this time to be able to bring the director of the film, Sarah Beddington, to talk about her part in the project and the growth of that relationship, and the possibilities it discloses."
The screening schedule is:
Mar 6, 7pm – Cromarty Community Cinema
Mar 7, 7pm – Evanton Community Cinema
Mar 8, 7pm – Real to Reel, Ullapool
Mar 9, 4pm – Timespan, Helmsdale
Mar 10, 1pm – Eden Court, Inverness
Want to know more?
Sarah Beddington: is a British artist and filmmaker based in London. Her work, often focusing on landscape and memory, has been screened at film festivals, art biennales, museums and galleries around the world. Her award-winning debut feature documentary, Fadia’s Tree, was released in cinemas across the UK in 2022 and nominated for a British Independent Film Award (BIFA).
Highland- Palestine: is a network of people across the Highlands who support the Palestinian people’s
struggle for equal rights and self-determination.
Timespan is a cultural organisation in Helmsdale (Scotland, UK) with local, global and planetary ambitions to utilise culture for social change following principles of equality, emancipation and inclusion.
Comprising a local history museum, contemporary art programme, geology and herb gardens, shop, bakery and café; Timespan adopts a holistic and integrated approach to making art and heritage tools for global cultural and social change. The organisation is committed to diagnosing and responding to urgent contemporary issues, which are rooted in the local context of remote, rural Scotland, and approaching these from a multi-disciplinary perspective.
Cromarty Community Cinema is a volunteer-run, built for purpose non for-profit venue sitting on the shore of Cromarty firth on the Black Isle.
Evanton Community Cinema Evanton Community Cinema is run by a group of film buff volunteers. Bringing the screen to the Evanton community in the Diamond Jubilee Hall.
Real to Reel: Ullapool film club meeting for a season of movies every second Sunday
