GVFilm was recently commissioned by Over The Fence Films to create a trailer for the poignant documentary ‘Fadia’s Tree’. Fadia, a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon, is stranded by history on the wrong side of the border. When a chance meeting introduces her to the director, Sarah, she makes a grand and personal request: to find the ancient mulberry tree next to her grandfather’s house in Sa’sa, northern Palestine. A mere 2 hour drive from Beirut where she lives, Fadia is barred from crossing that border. With only received memories, a blind man and a two-headed dragon as her guides, Sarah embarks on the quest to find the tree. Along the way, as she observes the homing instincts of millions of migrating birds, nature inadvertently reveals instinctive elements of the Palestinian yearn to return home. Through a birds’ eye perspective, we reflect on freedom of movement, exile and return and a sense of hope projected by the land itself. Fadia’s Tree is a remarkably warm debut feature film by artist, Sarah Beddington, and a heartfelt rumination on the nature of belonging.
Fadia’s Tree is showing Saturday November 27 at the Curzon Soho, Shaftesbury Avenue as part of the London Palestine Film Festival.