FROM ABDUL TO LEILA

leila albayati

belgium germany 2022 92 min

After an accident that causes her to lose her memory and several years of exile, a young Franco-Iraqi woman reconnects with her family to understand who she is. Reunited in the family home in the south of France, Leila confronts her father, Abdul, with his own past, the Iraq war, and decides to learn Arabic to put into song the poems he wrote to her. The language and the music gradually open the way to long-suppressed memories and lead her to discover her origins and the Arab world. The odyssey of a woman who sings her story to reinvent herself, inhabited by an irrepressible desire to live.

• About the film

  Original title D’Abdul à Leila

  Directed by Leila Albayaty

  Screenplay Leila Albayaty Zoe Nutchey David Deboudt

  Cast Leila Albayaty Abdul Albayaty Simone Albayaty Dalia Naous

  Music Leila Albayaty Maurice Louca Wassim Mukdad Amelie Legrand

  Cinematography Jonathan Bricheux Zoe Nutchey Leila Albayaty

  Editing Barbara Bossuet Zoe Nutchey Leila Albayaty

  Production Volte Films Derives

• Festivals & Awards

  El Gouna Film Festival
  2023 | Feature Documentary Competition
  NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film
  Nomination — Golden Star

  Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival
  2024 | Film Forward Competition
  Nomination — Golden Alexander

  Mediterranean Film Festival of Tétouan
  2024 | Long Films Competition
  Grand Jury Prize — Tamouda Award

  Annual Aarhus Film Festival
  2024 | Documentary Competition
  Best Documentary

  Arab Film Festival Rotterdam
  2024 | Documentary Competition
  Best Documentary

  Brussels International Film Festival (BRIFF)
  2024 | National Competition
  Nomination — Grand Prix

  Festival Cinéalma – International Mediterranean Film Festival
  2024 | Official Selection
  Jury Prize

  International Women's Film Festival of Gaza
  2024 | Documentary Competition
  Orange d'Or — Best Documentary

  Beyond Borders International Documentary Festival
  2024 | Closing Ceremony — Closing Film

  FIDBA – International Documentary Film Festival of Buenos Aires
  2024 | Official Selection

  31st Francophone Cinema Week (Quinzaine du Cinéma Francophone)
  2024 | French Premiere

  Edinburgh Documentary Festival
  2024 | Official Selection

  CINEMANIA Francophone Film Festival
  2024 | Official Selection