Screening of Happy Holidays (2024, Scandar Copti)
Screening and discussion of the film Happy Holidays by Scandar Copti, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2024, with the presence of the Palestinian filmmaker and the Israeli filmmaker Avi Mograbi.
About the film
Four interconnected characters share their unique rea- lities, highlighting the complexities between genders, generations, and cultures.
Rami, a Palestinian from Haifa, is dealing with his Jewish girlfriend’s sudden change of heart about her planned abortion. His mother, Hanan, is facing a financial crisis and becomes entangled in complications while seeking compensation for her daughter’s Fifi accident. Miri is forced to confront her daughter’s depression while also working to undermine her sister’s pregnancy with Rami. Fifi grapples with the guilt of hiding a secret that risks her family’s reputation and her burgeoning relationship with Dr. Walid.
Bios
SCANDAR COPTI is a Palestinian filmmaker and visual artist from Yafa. Renowned for his unique approach to working with non-actors, he teaches this technique at NYU Abu Dhabi and internationally. His work draws on personal experiences and broader societal and political narratives, offering a nuanced perspective on the Palestinian minority in Israel. Copti’s debut feature Ajami, co-directed with Yaron Shani, received a Special Mention in the Caméra d’Or award for Best First Feature Film at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 82nd Academy Awards. He is also the recipient of the Sutherland Trophy.
AVI MOGRABI, Israeli filmmaker and video artist, was born in 1956 in Tel Aviv, where he lives and works to this day. Having studied art and philosophy, he gained his first production experiences working as an assistant director on commercials and feature films, while his own filmmaking career began in 1989. Since 1999, he has taught documentary and experimental film at Tel Aviv University and the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. Mograbi, one of Israel’s most distinguished filmmakers, is known for his unwavering commitment to social, cultural and political justice in the Middle East, as well as his experimentalism and innovative contribution to cinematic language. Avi Mogrbi’s documentary films have been programmed by festivals worldwide, including: Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Rome, New York, FID Marseille, Vision du Reel and San Francisco, among others.