Asian world film festival 2016
Culver City, California, USA
October 24 - November 1, 2016
3000 NIGHTS
SYNOPSIS
Accused of helping a teenage boy on the run, newlywed Palestinian schoolteacher, Layal finds herself incarcerated in a top security Israeli prison for Palestinian and Israeli women.
After being subjected to a harrowing reception from the female guards and inmates, Layal discovers that she is pregnant. The prison director pressures her to abort the baby and spy on the Palestinian inmates. Terrified but defiant, Layal gives birth to her child in chains.
Through her struggle to raise her son behind bars and her turbulent relationship with the other prisoners, Layal manages to find a sense of hope and meaning to her life. When prison conditions deteriorate and the Palestinian prisoners decide to strike, the prison director warns her against joining the strike and threatens to take her son away.
In a moment of truth, Layal is forced to make a choice that will forever change her life.
Inspired by a true story and shot in a real prison, 3000 Nights traces a young mother’s journey of hope, resilience and survival against all odds.
Followed by Q & A with Director Mai Masri
ABOUT THE FILM
Genre: Drama
Country: Jordan, Palestine, France, Lebanon, UAE, Qatar
Year: 2014
Duration: 113 minutes
Director: Mai Masri
Language(s): Arabic, Hebrew
Subtitles: English subtitles
Producer: Mai Masri, Sabine Sidawi, Charlotte Uzu
Screenplay: Mai Masri
Cinematographer: Gilles Porte
Editor: Michele Tyan
Sound Recording: Raja Dubayah , Chadi Roukoz
Sound Design: Rana Eid
Principal Cast: Maisa Abd Elhadi, Nadera Omran, Raida Adon, Karim Saleh, Rakeen Saad, Abeer Haddad, Anahid Fayyad, Hana Chamoun, Haifa Al-Agha, Ahmad Al-Omari, Khitam Edelbi
Contact
Production: Orjouane Productions, +961.3.499080 rshamdan@cyberia.net.lb
Sales: Intramovies, +39 335 841 0149 paola.corvino@intramovies.com
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
I first had the idea to make 3000 Nights several years ago when I was filming in my hometown, Nablus during the first intifada where I met a young Palestinian woman who had given birth to her son in an Israeli prison. I was profoundly affected to hear how she had delivered her child in chains and raised him together with her cellmates only to be forcefully separated from him at the age of two. I felt that this was a story that had to be told.
Inspired by the true stories of children born in prison and young women coming of age behind bars, 3000 Nights is first and foremost a human story of a young mother who, through her struggle to protect her child and her relationship with the prisoners around her, finds the space to reflect, develop, and mature as a young woman.
Featuring an almost entirely female cast and shot in an old disused prison, The film explores the meaning of motherhood, love and betrayal, focusing on the imagination, creativity and solidarity of women prisoners that empowers them to survive and endure. Prison is a metaphor for the condition of the Palestinian people – and Palestinina women in particular. I am drawn to this story because it allows me to explore the complex relationships that take place within the intimacy of a confined, hidden space of a women’s world and to go beyond the relationship of conflict and into the realm of the unexpected bonds that can arise between captive women at war.
This story has been living with me for such a long time that I feel I have been imprisoned with these women and seen the same walls and heard the same sounds. For me this is a film about resilience and resistance. It is above all a film about hope.
Asian World Film Festival 2016, Culver City, USA
Hollywood, California
