أيادينا

April 26, 2020 4:31 AM

Our Hands by Abdellatif Abdul-Hamid (1982): the filmmaker’s first short film with the National Film Organization, produced after his return to Syria from the Soviet Union, Our Hands is a compelling visual essay on labouring, gesturing hands. [content warning: scenes of animal injury and death]

Found on the channel of Asaad Badawi, which features a number of rare Middle Eastern films and documentaries.

posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs (4 comments total)

re: the content warning, it appears that real doves are shot and killed between 7:12 and 7:28, in case you want to avoid that bit.
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 4:52 AM on April 26, 2020

That was great! Aside from the Vonnegut-esque ending, this would have fit in with the content of the early days of Sesame Street. And I mean that in the best possible way.

Avoiding the part with the doves and the ending makes watching this piece pointless, though.
posted by SoberHighland at 6:38 AM on April 26, 2020 [1 favorite]

This is wonderful. For those curious, all the writing scenes, printing scenes and book burning scene are for a single title which translates as "My Memoir".
posted by Corduroy at 8:32 AM on April 26, 2020 [2 favorites]

This tackles so many issues in 9 minutes: family, animal life, labor, aestheticism, and more. Fun!
posted by kozad at 7:40 PM on April 26, 2020 [1 favorite]