Fadia's Tree

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2:22

Fadia's Tree

2021

1h 26m

Documentary

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

8 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

While millions of birds migrate freely in the skies above, a dynamic Palestinian refugee stranded in Lebanon yearns for the ancestral homeland she's denied. She challenges her friend, the director, to find the ancient mulberry tree that stands as witness to her family's existence, guided only by inherited memories, a blind man and a two-headed dragon. Spanning fifteen years, this story of a friendship that stays connected across a divided land and a fragmented people, adopts a birds' eye perspective to reflect on freedom of movement, exile and the hope of return.

Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

[A] thoughtful and compassionate documentary...

Rated: 3/5

Aug 7, 2022

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Kevin Maher

Times (UK)

Loubani is indeed a sympathetic focus for the film, but based on similar and far more accomplished docs from the region (see A World Not Ours or Gaza Surf Club), this is uneven and underworked.

Rated: 2/5

Aug 5, 2022

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Danny Leigh

Financial Times

... The pulse of the story is that rarest thing in 2022 — internationalism. It thrums with quiet rage at how diplomats’ crayons cause the sky to fill not just with birds and balloons, but rockets.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 5, 2022

Full Review

Marya E. Gates

Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack)

This heartfelt film is both about the transformative power of friendship, but also the deep connection people have to their ancestral lands

Feb 13, 2024

Full Review

Rich Cline

Shadows on the Wall

Filmmaker Sarah Beddington makes offbeat connections along the way, which add layers of emotion and insight to tell a deeply personal story in the context of a much bigger world.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 10, 2022

Full Review

Dulcie Pearce

The Sun (UK)

While the migratory bird’s eye-view concept can feel too pointed at times, it does offer a fresh way to consider the ongoing problems of the region.

Rated: 3/5

Aug 5, 2022

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Katharine L

A magical film exploring what it is to belong to a place, and the inextinguishable yearning when a people are removed from their roots. Unpolitical, with the main reference framework being the migration on birds.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/08/24

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Sarah Beddington

Director

Sarah Beddington

Writer

Sarah Beddington

Producer

Susan Simnett

Producer

Hanna Atallah

Executive Producer

Mia Bays

Executive Producer

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Fadia's Tree: Trailer 1

2:22

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Synopsis

While millions of birds migrate freely in the skies above, a dynamic Palestinian refugee stranded in Lebanon yearns for the ancestral homeland she's denied. She challenges her friend, the director, to find the ancient mulberry tree that stands as witness to her family's existence, guided only by inherited memories, a blind man and a two-headed dragon. Spanning fifteen years, this story of a friendship that stays connected across a divided land and a fragmented people, adopts a birds' eye perspective to reflect on freedom of movement, exile and the hope of return.

Director: Sarah Beddington
Producer: Sarah Beddington, Susan Simnett
Screenwriter: Sarah Beddington, Sarah Beddington
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Runtime: 1h 26m