Crayons of Askalan
Fall Grant 2011 - Post-Production Stage
Laila Hotait Salas / Feature Documentary / Lebanon, Spain, Qatar / 2011 / 52 min / Colour / Original Language: Arabic / Interests: Documentary, Middle Eastern, Politics, Female Director, Based on a True Story, Docufiction
Synopsis
A creative documentary based on the powerful story of the Palestinian artist Zuhdi Al Adawi. IN 1975, at the age of fifteen Zuhdi is sentenced and confined in the high security prison of Askalan, Israel for fifteen years. With the help of his fellow prisoners and their families, he manages to stay alive by smuggling in color crayons and smuggling out his allegorical artwork done on pillowcases, so it finds its way to the outside world.
Credits
- Director
- Laila Hotait Salas
- Screenwriter
- Laila Hotait Salas
- Producer
- Laila Hotait Salas, Mohammad Hamdar, Federika Odriozola
About the Director
Laila Hotait Salas, Ph.D, is a Lebanese-Spanish filmmaker and artist. Her first documentary film, ‘Crayons of Askalan’ (2011) has been presented in more than 20 film festivals, including Hot Docs, the Doha Tribeca Film Festival, CPH:DOX and DocsDF. Her sound art works have been presented at international venues such as the Centre Pompidou, the Kunst-im-Tunnel Museum Düsseldorf and several art galleries. Hotait was selected by the CPH:LAB as an international emerging film talent in 2011, and co-directed the film ‘From a Distance’ with Rania M. Tawfik the same year. Her work has received support from institutions including the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, the Sundance Documentary Fund Programme, Screen Institute Beirut and the Doha Film Institute.
Awards and Festival History
Festivals
Doha Tribeca Film Festival 2011, in the Arab Feature Documentary Competition (Qatar)
Hot Docs! Toronto 2012, in Official Competition (Canada)
Toronto Palestine Film Festival 2011, Special Screening (Canada)
Sunny Side of the Doc, France 2012, Film in t