Mariner of the Mountains

Sunday, March 13 / 1:00pm / Ottawa Art Gallery

Fanmi / Mariner of the Mountains

This program is presented by the Canada Media Fund.

Feature presentation \

fictional autobiography \ journey \ identity

Mariner of the Mountains centers around the complicated journey of 54-year-old, Brazilian-raised Karim Aïnouz to his father’s homeland and town, Tagmut Azuz in the mountain village in Kabylia, Algeria. A voice over narration, in the form of a tender letter to his deceased mother, shares an imagined history where Aïnouz contends with displacement, identity, and self-discovery. With a camera in hand for every encounter including still photographs he captures the present, while memories of Fortaleza, Brazil and archival footage trace the past - in particular the revolution and decolonization of Algeria that drew his father back. This path of self-discovery is the future, but disorienting filters prevent the viewer from losing themselves in the documentary and the filmmaker’s forged history, mirroring the vulnerability of imagined narratives and this pilgrimage.

- Azarin Sohrabkhani

Short film \

This program is presented by the Canada Media Fund.