Hassan in wonderland
In Cinema
A group of kids is playing with toy weapons in a bomb-shattered Baghdad, this way reproducing the terrible reality around them; everyone seems to enjoy the game, everyone except for Hassan. The small Hassan doesn’t play with weapons, he prefers his toy cars to the guns and rifles with which the others shoot, chase and pretend to kill each other. Wondering through the city, Hassan reaches a strange place, it looks like a dumpster but it’s actually the place in which the cars and the other vehicles that have been destroyed by terrorist attacks are taken to and abandoned. A new danger awaits the kids.
The movie was born from Ali Kareem’s will to describe and condemn an unknown, as much as preoccupying, aspect of the effects of the war in his home country: Iraq. The original idea was to shoot in Baghdad, where the story takes place, but at the time of the shooting, the city was too dangerous: there were nearly twenty car bombs a day and no one knew when and where the next one would have gone off. Considering the young age of the cast, four very brave kids that accepted to play themselves in the movie, and the overall risk of shooting in what it’s still considered a war zone, Ali decided to move the four day set to the more peaceful Babylon. After the shooting was over, the project was moved to Italy, where Baburka Production’s post-production team edited and post produced the short movie. The Baburka Production was then more than happy to start the distribution of this wonderful movie which wants to be a condemnation to the infantile militarization through toy weapons, a very present problematic in Iraq.
The Director
Ali Kareem Obaid is a Director Born at 1984 in Baghdad. He has studied Art at the University of Baghdad and has been a master student of Choreography and Performance in Germany.
He’s also a social Activist in the nonviolence field. During the years, he has collaborated in various theatrical projects, played between Iraq, Germany and Italy, as actor and director, such as “Flash Back”, “Voices From Baghdad”, which has also been played in Oxford, “Hell and Heaven” and “Commodification”.
He has written various short movies’ screenplays, such as “City’s Heart”, “Marjam” and “Happy Birth Day”, which has been selected at the 2012 Berlin’s Film Festival. He has also written and directed the documentary “Little Heroes”, before challenging himself into his first work as full author: writing and directing “Hassan in Wonderland”, which is therefore to be considered as his first work.
Festival screenings
FESTIVAL E SCREENINGS
Dubai International Film Festival ( 2014 – Dubai – PREMIERE )
Amsterdam Film Festival ( 2015 – Holland – VAN GOGH AWARD, BEST FAMILY FILM )
Corto Dorico Film Festival ( 2014 – Italy – AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AWARD )
Festival International du Film Arabe de Gabès ( 2016 – Tunisia – BEST SHORT FILM )
Mazzeni Film Festival ( 2015 – Italy – BEST FILM )
Corto Dorico Film Festival ( 2014 – Italy – THE LITTLE PRINCE AWARD )
Puglia in Corto Film Festival ( 2015 – Italy – MIGLIOR CORTO INTERNAZIONALE )
Festival International du Film Arabe de Gabès ( 2016 – Tunisia – AUDIENCE AWARD )
Palm springs International Film Festival ( 2015 – USA )
Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia ( 2017 – Japan )
Interfilm – Berlin International Short Film Festival ( 2015 – Germany )
BIKY – Busan International Kids and Youth Film Festival ( South Korea )
Amsterdam Film Festival ( The Netherlands )
Filmfest Dresden – International Film Festival ( Germany )
Dubai International Film Festival ( United Arab Emirates )
Arab Film Festival Australia ( Australia )
Corto Dorico Film Festival ( Italy )
Alfilm – Arab Film Festival Berlin ( Germany )
Festival International du Film Arabe de Gabès ( Tunisia )
International Film Festival of Uruguay ( South America )
International Oriental Film Festival of Geneva ( Switzerland )
Beirut International Film Festival ( Lebanon )
Iffran Film Festival ( Morocco )
A Film for Peace festival ( Italy )
Movievalley Bazzacinema – Festival Nazionale di Cortometraggi ( Italy )
Kalat Nissa Film Festival ( Italy )
Puglia in Corto Film Festival ( Italy )
Mumbai Film Festival ( India )
Schlingel International Film Festival ( Germany )
Move Me Productions – Short Film Festival ( Belgium )
Malmo Arab Film Festival ( Sweden )
Sudan Independent Film Festival ( Sudan )
AlNahj International Film Festival ( Iraq )
Wendy’s Short Film Festival ( USA )
Qumra Film Festival ( Iraq )
CAFS Survival International Film Festival ( Australia )
Flensburger Kurzfilmtage ( Germany )
Diwaniya Film Festival ( Iraq )
Kiki International Film Festival for Kids ( Croatia )
Backup_Festival – Short Film Festival Weimer ( Germany )
Tenemos Que Ver – Human Rights Human Dignity International Film Festival ( SouthAmerica )
Asia International Wenzhou Youth Short Film Exhibition
Bienal International de Video Y Cine Contemporáneo ( USA )
Grand Off – World Independent Film Awards ( Poland )
Eye on Film Festival Slovenia ( Slovenia )
Cinepobre Fim Festival ( 2017 )
Festival international Cinema Solidari ( Spain )
BIENAL INTERNACIONAL DE VIDEO Y CINE CONTEMPORÁNEO VIDEOFEST
Short of the year Film Festival ( Spain )
AM Egypt Film Festival ( Egypt )
Festival Internazionale del Cinema d’Arte ( Italian )
Geofilmfestival and Expocinema ( Italy )
Tontons Flimmers ( France )
MUKFF Film Festival ( Malmö )
Kuki Film Festival Berlin ( Germany )
Cinepobre Film Festival
Cefalù film Festival ( Italy )
Timeline Film Festival ( 2018 Italy )
Nebrodi FilmFest ( 2018 )