My Paper Life

MA VIE EN PAPIER

Belgium, France, Iran, 2022, 80'

YOUNG JURY DAY

In our life, there are events that mark our existence and change us once and for all, but it’s not easy to discuss them. Two Syrian young women, Hala and Rima, are the elder sisters of a family who fled the war in Syria and are now accommodated in a Brussels apartment, awaiting the outcome of their asylum application, hoping for a new life away from fear. Entirely shot inside the apartment, the film focuses on the encounter of the filmmaker and the two sisters, and the dialogue they entertain. Stories hard to tell make their way through the use of drawings: the journey made to arrive to the West, the sea crossed, the dangers encountered take shape on a blank sheet of paper. The home is the suspended space of the wait, animated by little siblings and the daily gestures. Thanks to the exchange of words and drawings, it turns into a space of sharing that puts us in contact with the images and emotions conveyed by those, actually facing us with a contemporary odyssey. Deleting those painful inner dimensions will not be possible, but sharing them may soothe the grief and pave the way for hope in a brighter future, in which one can smile again and imagine the future, like being dressed as a bride.