Gold Winner / Feature Movie
CAST
Adel Darwish
Nathalié Williamsdotter
Ahmad Fadel
Lena B. Eriksson
Nastreen Aljanabi Larsson
Wafaai Laila
Elias Palin
Sara Sommerfeld
LOGLINE:
”GHABE” is Arabic and means ”Forest”.
A Syrian refugee in waiting for residence permit, explores the mystical Swedish forests and his traumatic memories of the war while falling in love with a Swedish girl and battling the local racism, because he is ignoring the warnings buy his older cousin, only to find out how deep the racism really goes.
BACKGROUND :
In 2015, more than 160,000 asylum seekers arrived in Sweden. During the summer the pressure was so great that the Migration Board's accommodation was not enough. Private individuals lent their cottages and houses, to help accommodate all asylum seekers.
SYNOPSIS:
Monir is a refugee from Syria who just arrived in Sweden with his older cousin Farid during the 2015 refugee crisis. They are housed by the Swedish Migration Board in a cabin deep in the forest while waiting on residence permit. Monir begins to explore the grand mysterious forests surrounding the cabin. Their powerful presence lures him deeper, confronting him with his traumatic memories of the war. Here he meets Moa, a young Swedish woman escaping the demands of modern society over the summer. Their curiosity brings them together, protected by the infinite patience of nature. But hidden fears and prejudices cause the summer to slowly slide toward a devastating end.
DIRECTORS BIO
Markus Castro is a Swedish based filmmaker originally from Chile. He has worked in the film industry his whole life resulting in many award winning music videos and commercials, always with he ambition to make feature films. ”Ghabe” is his feature film debut, made totally independent. Markus wrote, directed and finansed the film himself. His ambition was to make a timeless, thought provoking love story&thriller, mixing realism with an epic and meditative imagery, to create an immersive and detailed portrait of the characters and the environment they experience. Ghabe was shot almost entirely on 35 mm, 2 perf film to give the film its beautiful, dense and organic look and features an incredible 5.1 surround sound mix placing the audience in the forest together with Monir, Moa and Farid. The film is set to premiere in cinemas Sweden and North America this fall in October. Markus are currently workin on his next feature film project.
