TO A LAND UNKNOWN PREMIERES IN CANNES TO RAVE REVIEWS AND A 9MIN. STANDING OVATION
23 May 2024
Mahdi Fleifel’s To A Land Unknown premiered at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes to an emotional 9min. standing ovation by the audience and rave reviews from the international press.
“Palestinian filmmaker’s narrative debut channels the spirit of Bicycle Thieves. Mahdi Fleifel delivers a confident, fully-realized drama featuring a lead performance from Mahmood Bakri which should attract international attention for both actor and director.”
-Catherine Bray, Variety
“This Palestinian Twist on ‘Midnight Cowboy’ Is Full of Masterful Storytelling and Wrenching Humanity. To A Land Unknown is a social realist drama buoyed by two gorgeous central performances, a nuanced portrait of a mercurial male relationship told with assurance and steel. This is a tour-de-force of empathic storytelling, with its genre narrative bursting with an overabundance of humanity. Grade: A-”
-Sophie Monks Kaufman, Indiewire
“Two desperate Palestinian cousins are hopelessly stranded in Athens, Greece, in Mahdi Fleifel’s heartbreaking migrant drama. Arrestingly plotted and bracingly acted, this story about the biting hardships faced by refugees who have left the danger of their homeland only to be left nationless could hardly be more relevant. The only Palestinian feature premiering at Cannes, To A Land Unknown is crafted with painstaking care, and features two strong lead performances that are thoughtfully translated to the screen by an empathetic lens.”
-Robert Daniels, Screen Daily