Teta, Alf Marra (Grandma a Thousand Times)

Synopsis

From the award-winning director of Being Osama comes Teta, Alf Marra (Grandma a Thousand Times) a poetic and playful documentary celebrating the many worlds of his feisty Beiruti grandmother.

Teta Fatima is the 83-year old matriarch of the Kaabour family and the sharp-witted queen bee of an old Beiruti quarter. The film documents her larger-than-life character and enduring love for her violinist husband (deceased 20 years) in this charming and intimate exploration of the themes of family, music, aging, and love.

Teta, Alf Marra brings together grandfather, grandmother and grandson in a visually breath-taking magic-realist documentary that aims to defy a past death and a future one.

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Director

Mahmoud Kaabour is an award-winning Lebanese director, writer and lecturer based in the UAE. He is the founder and managing director of Veritas Films, a Dubai-based company specializing in documentaries for the UAE’s governmental and corporate entities. With his first film, Being Osama, he was the youngest commissioned filmmaker in the history of Canadian television. His film Teta, Alf Marra (Grandma, a Thousand Times) set multiple records in regional and global distribution. His next film, Champ of the Camp, about a Bollywood singing competition in the labor camps of the UAE, is set for release in winter 2013.

Awards and Festivals

Best Film: London International Documentary Film Festival 2011

Best Film: Mumbai Film Festival 2011

Audience Award for Best Documentary: Doha Tribeca Film Fest 2010 (a 100,000$ cash prize presented by actor Robert de Niro)

Audience Award for Best International Documentary: Dox Box Film Festival 2011

Special Jury Mention for filmmaker Mahmoud Kaabour: Doha Tribeca 2010

Special Jury Mention: at DocsDF Mexico for filmmaker Mahmoud Kaabour 2011

Merit Prize: Taiwan International Documentary Festival 2012