Mahdi Fleifel
A World Not Ours (previously titled After the Last Goal)
United Arab Emirates, Palestine, United Kingdom, Lebanon
Producers: Patrick Campbell
Production Company: Nakba Filmworks Ltd.
Project Logline:
Millions of people from every country join in the excitement of the FIFA World Cup. This is no different for Palestinians. In fact, it is precisely because they are a people without a country that the allegiances and aspirations brought on by the championship are so appealing. This story is about Palestinians in exile – and the joy, the sadness and ultimately the irony of a stateless nation having no choice but to support teams not their own.
Mahdi Fleifel studied film at the University of Wales. His first short film, Shadi in the Beautiful Well, set in the Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon where he spent his childhood years, won numerous international prizes. In 2009, he graduated from the National Film School, where he wrote, directed and acted in comedies, most notably Arafat & I, which screened at more than 20 international festivals and won awards in Italy, Houston, Romania and the Czech Republic.