The Sursock Museum is pleased to invite you to the screening premiere of Aida Returns by Carol Mansour, on Monday 18 March at 20:00. The film will be followed by a Q&A session.
Aida Returns
Dir. Carol Mansour, 2023
72’, Lebanon
In Arabic and French with English subtitles
This film tells the story of multiple journeys: the journey of loss as the director’s mother, Aida, struggled with losing herself to Alzheimer’s disease; the journey of the loss of a parent; and the ultimate return journey back to Yafa, where Aida was born and raised.
The film accompanies director Carol Mansour as she engineers a way to return her mother to Yafa in search of eternal rest and peace for her. A return aided by an unlikely set of friends and strangers all coming together to facilitate what should have been a simple journey. This film is a tribute to the lost past of the director’s family, an attempt to restore part of 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.
Carol Mansour is a Lebanese/Canadian independent documentary filmmaker of Palestinian origin. She founded Forward Film Production in 2000. With over 30 years in documentary production, Mansour has covered the world from Sri Lanka to Lebanon to Uzbekistan. Her films tackle issues of forced displacement and refugee rights, migrant workers, mental health, war and memory, child labor, and women’s rights.