Synopsis

This is a sometimes painful, sometimes humorous, often absurd story of multiple journeys: the journey of loss as the director’s mother Aida struggled with Alzheimer’s disease finding solace in her repeated “returning” to the Yafa of her youth; the journey of losing a parent; and the ultimate return journey to Yafa where Aida would finally find rest.


After her mother’s passing, director Carol Mansour, met friends in Beirut willing to carry Aida back with them to Palestine. The film accompanies Carol as she engineers a way to return her mother aided by an unlikely set of friends and strangers coming together to facilitate what should have been a simple journey. This journey is at the same time very private and yet universal. It is a tribute to the lost past of the director’s family, an attempt to restore part of both an individual and a collective memory, and a poetic nod and affirmation to all those exiled Palestinians forbidden from returning to their hometowns, even after death.

 
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Krishna and Jay, organisers of Alt+Art, say, “This is a versatile and controversial film, an important watch, especially during the current situation”. 

 
Al Jazeera | Aida Returns Fulfilling the Dream of Return

رحلة زمانية ومكانية مليئة بالعواطف، صاغتها المخرجة منصور لتنتصر على المستوى العاطفي لصراع الذاكرة الفلسطينية والهوية والانتماء، وتعكس أسلوب مقاومة ثقافية يتحدى ويحطم الحواجز والقيود نحو تحقيق حلمها وحلم كل فلسطيني بأن يدفن في أرضه
Aida, bienvenue chez toi, à Jaffa

« Aida returns » se base sur une revendication légitime arrachée, celle de ramener sa mère à sa terre d’origine, sa terre interdite, la Palestine. Le nouveau film de Carol Mansour est un coup de poing pour une poignée de cendres, un témoignage poignant, un magnifique dernier geste d’amour.
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Reviews

"A journey suffused with grief, exile and an unwavering commitment to fulfil her mother's final wish."

"Le nouveau film de Carol Mansour est un coup de poing pour une poignée de cendres, un témoignage poignant, un magnifique dernier geste d’amour."

"تمكنت كارول منصور من حصد التضامن والالتفاف، حول الحالة الإنسانية، التي ارادت تخليدها. حالة عاشها الملايين من اللاجئين الفلسطينيين، الذين أغمضوا عيونهم في الشتات ممنوعين من بلادهم."

"This is a powerful, poignant documentary. Once the mission is accomplished, the viewer leaves with a heavy heart and a strange species of relief. The film highlights how ordinary events, like the death of an elderly woman, take on mythical proportions when people have been pushed out of their homes."

"The documentary is an ode to the bond shared by mothers and daughters. It navigates through a personal, yet universal, story of grief, trauma, yearning and love. In spite of Mansour filming on phone, her filmmaking is personal and poignant and draws the viewer in."

"Every beat of this film is sublime.There is humor and sorrow, but the depth of the historical tragedy and its often forgotten human cost is ever present."