Chasing the Dazzling Light
Spring Grants 2021 - Development Stage
Yaser Kassab / Feature Documentary / Syria, Qatar / Original Language: Arabic / Interests: Drama, Immigration
Synopsis
In a small town in central Sweden, Yaser embarks on a journey searching for inspiration to make a film that is related to his new place, but he finds isolation and emptiness surrounding him. His father is in Aleppo and, through phone calls, tries to help him in his search. He advises him not to make a personal film and make a film far from what is happening in Syria. While Yaser was researching the origin of this passion, his father tells him that he had an unfulfilled dream of studying cinema and becoming a filmmaker forty years ago. But the selection committee refused to nominate him to study in the Soviet Union, so he decided to travel to work in West Germany. Hearing that makes Yaser more eager to pursue his dream in filmmaking. However, Sweden adopts a stricter immigration policy, and he has to find steady work in order to renew his resident permit. Yaser decides to move to Stockholm to study cinema and make a film with his father about two generations and a family separated by war—about two experiences of exile that are united by their inherited passion and love for cinema.
Credits
- Director
- Yaser Kassab
- Screenwriter
- Yaser Kassab
- Producer
- Zenloop Productions
About the Director
Yaser Kassab is a filmmaker born in Syria and based in Stockholm, Sweden. He holds a master’s degree in film from Gothenburg university. Yaser is known for ‘On the Edge of Life’, which premiered at the Cinema du Reel Film Festival and earned the Joris Ivens and CNAP awards as the best first film. At Festival Dei Popoli, it gained the best mid-length documentary award and further awards. In 2019 his film ‘I Have Seen Nothing, I Have Seen All’, premiered at Vision du reel. Both films were screened at many festivals, including IDFA, RIDM, Tempo, Carthage, and Cairo.