Completed - ARABIC - Drama, Romance - 78 minutes
Year of production : 2011 Director(s) : Susan YOUSSEF Cast : Kais NASHEF, Maisa ABD ELHADI, Yussef ABU WARDA
Habibi uncannily re-casts Majnun Layla (Mad for Layla), the 9th century classical poetry tragic love epic, in today’s Gaza Strip. Qays and Layla are madly in love, but observant Khan Yunis they have to be married to be together. Qays is poor, Layla’s parents turn him away. Qays woos Layla by scribbling verse all over Khan Yunis’s walls. Habibi is a compelling ode to emancipation.
Country(ies) : PALESTINE, USA, NETHERLANDS, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Toronto - TIFF 2011 Discovery