From My Window, without a Home

De ma fenêtre, sans maison...

Maryanne Zéhil,

Canada/Lebanon, 2007, 88 min

In French and Arabic, with English subtitles

Toronto premiere

Script: Maryanne Zéhil

Cast: Louise Portal, Renée Thomas, Leyla Hakim, Walid El Alayli, Hélène Mercier

Thursday, 6 November 2008, at 9:15 p.m

Innis Town Hall

Director in attendance.

Sana (Louise Portal), a Lebanese woman, leaves her four-year-old daughter with her mother and emigrates to Montreal to escape the pressures of the traditional life style. In her new life, she can pursue her career and personal relationship. To deal with the guilt and pain of separation, she burns all bridges with her past. Seventeen years later, on impulse, Sana invites her daughter, Dounia (Renée Thomas), to Montreal. This encounter resurrects the suffering she has tried to forget. This visit helps Dounia to understand the reasons behind her mother’s departure, and to question her own life.

Maryanne Zéhil

Maryanne Zéhil began her career in 1994, in Lebanon, as a journalist specializing in sociopolitical reporting and documentaries. In 1997, she settled in Quebec and until 2003 worked for a French production company, covering issues in the Middle East. In 2004, Zéhil made her first short film, one that involved people who have never previously been before the cameras. From My Window, Without a Home is her first feature film and was presented at the closing of the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois.