Marco

The meeting and the outcomes here were ambiguous. Marco was happy to have met the rich and good-looking Omar a week before his Home Office interview. What was he angling for? I live in an Arab country and I know that requests and desires are often expressed obliquely. Was he hoping for help, money, influence being used? Whatever it was, Omar wasn't interested and sought to get rid of him by doubling the fee and foregoing the "massage".

Yet Marco left his mark. His soliloquy about his perilous trip and his parents led Omar to re-evaluate his own rocky relationship with his own Mum and Dad.

It was so nice to hear the two boys' Arabic! And the dialect they were speaking too, so different from the one in the country I live in. I needed the (excellent) subtitles nonetheless.

This was a good 23 minutes and I took away good feelings despite the "huluw wa mara" ending.

This is a simple story. It's not a big social remark nor a harrowing documentary. But we get to see a slice in the life of an immigrant and a refugee in their own voice.

Why does one choose to leave one's home and seek a life in a different country? The reason and situation would vary - some does well like successful Omar or some have nothing and their future hanging on a thread like 'Marco'. But regardless it's never easy to live as a perpetual stranger; your chosen land would never really be fully your home and the land you left would always draw its shadow over you whether you like it or not.

The short film captures a brief gentle moment of the 2 people letting their guard down, the guard one has to keep up to survive as a stranger. Not ground breaking, but a welcome addition to the whole refugee/immigrant themed films, many of which often sadly misses the right beat and tune. This one gets it right in its small way.

Recommended.

A very simple story. The admirable performance of Marwan Kaabour. The Syrian crisis in the fair, touching light. And the other as reflection of yourself , surprising, powerful, precise. A great film for its suggestion to see the near reality out of comfortable perspective. Well made, giving the honest message about a necessary clash, home, language and music. About parents, hope and faith. And about identity, the correct one. So, just impressive , first for its well used minimalism and for beautiful construction of dialogue.