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Mahdi Fleifel on His Scorsese-Inspired Palestinian Refugee Thriller ‘To a Land Unknown’
Mahdi Fleifel discusses his Palestinian refugee thriller 'To a Land Unknown,' which closes the Galway Film Festival
And while it marks Fleifel’s narrative debut, the story of “To a Land Unknown” almost continues on from his award-winning documentary, following two young Palestinian refugees stranded in Athens and desperate to reach Germany. But as he began formulating the idea, Fleifel became disillusioned, with refugee stories becoming increasingly prevalent on screens (he said it reached a peak around 2016 with the Berlinale-winning “Fire at Sea”). Fleifel wanted to “pay homage” to his favourite cinema, the “early Martin Scorsese” and Brian De Palma 1970s New York films, so crafted a heist thriller set in Greece where the main protagonists aren’t necessarily the good guys.
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