The Lebanese film 'OK, Enough, Goodbye' طيّب خلاص يلا is screening several times at the San International Film Festival which is currently taking place in the bay area. The film screens on Apr 20 and 29 at the Kabuki (SF) and on Tue, May 1 at 8:50 at the PFA (Berkeley).
PLOT (source: http://festival.sffs.org/films/film_details.php?id=70):
A middle-aged pastry shop owner in Lebanon, looking like an escapee from a film by Judd Apatow, is the unlikely protagonist of this marvelously crafted deadpan comedy. Business is so bad he is constantly giving away the pastries, although he seems to be the only one who wants to eat them. One day, his crabby mother, with whom he still lives, packs up and leaves without explanation. Left on his own, he searches cluelessly for maternal substitutes, meanwhile reluctantly befriending the ten-year-old rascal next door obsessed with toy guns. A friend cajoles him into hiring an Ethiopian maid to keep house for him. But lacking a common language with the woman, she ends up absurdly hanging around in a sullen mood doing nothing. Filmmakers Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia paint a picture of the overgrown small town of Tripoli with an understated, documentary-like brush, revealing a town bereft of culture and filled with peevish, dissatisfied characters, where friendly prostitutes troll for customers using text messaging. The directors’ astute attention to detail induces laughter of recognition and sympathy for these endearingly dysfunctional residents, unaware of their starring role in the human comedy.—Miguel Pendás
ABOUT THE DIRECTORS:
PLOT (source: http://festival.sffs.org/films/film_details.php?id=70):
A middle-aged pastry shop owner in Lebanon, looking like an escapee from a film by Judd Apatow, is the unlikely protagonist of this marvelously crafted deadpan comedy. Business is so bad he is constantly giving away the pastries, although he seems to be the only one who wants to eat them. One day, his crabby mother, with whom he still lives, packs up and leaves without explanation. Left on his own, he searches cluelessly for maternal substitutes, meanwhile reluctantly befriending the ten-year-old rascal next door obsessed with toy guns. A friend cajoles him into hiring an Ethiopian maid to keep house for him. But lacking a common language with the woman, she ends up absurdly hanging around in a sullen mood doing nothing. Filmmakers Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia paint a picture of the overgrown small town of Tripoli with an understated, documentary-like brush, revealing a town bereft of culture and filled with peevish, dissatisfied characters, where friendly prostitutes troll for customers using text messaging. The directors’ astute attention to detail induces laughter of recognition and sympathy for these endearingly dysfunctional residents, unaware of their starring role in the human comedy.—Miguel Pendás
ABOUT THE DIRECTORS:
Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia have collaborated on many short films to date—fiction, nonfiction and music videos—which have screened at many festivals.From the Parapet was a regional finalist at the 32nd Annual Student Academy Awards in 2005, and Almost Brooklyn was made in a directing workshop under the supervision of acclaimed Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami. Tripoli, Quiet received the Black Pearl Award for Best Middle Eastern Short at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival in October 2009. OK, Enough, Goodbye. is their feature film debut
NEW DIRECTORS
Lebanon/United Arab Emirates, 2010, 91 min
CREDITSdirRania Attieh, Daniel Garcia
prodRania Attieh, Daniel Garcia
scr Rania Attieh, Daniel Garcia
cam Daniel Garcia
editor Rania Attieh, Daniel Garcia
mus Daniel Garcia
cast Daniel Arzrouni, Nadimé Attieh, Walid Ayoubi
sourceIsilay Yanbas. EMAIL:info@okenoughgoodbye.com
Lebanon/United Arab Emirates, 2010, 91 min
CREDITSdirRania Attieh, Daniel Garcia
prodRania Attieh, Daniel Garcia
scr Rania Attieh, Daniel Garcia
cam Daniel Garcia
editor Rania Attieh, Daniel Garcia
mus Daniel Garcia
cast Daniel Arzrouni, Nadimé Attieh, Walid Ayoubi
sourceIsilay Yanbas. EMAIL:info@okenoughgoodbye.com
