Abu Haraz can no longer be found on the map. The changing of seasons and flow of the river used to mark the rhythm of life in this village, but the construction of a dam on the Nile changed that for good. The small North Sudanese village now wallows under 35 meters of water in the middle of an artificial lake, 180 kilometres long.

For seven years, filmmaker Maciej Drygas observed and documented daily life in Abu Haraz as its citizens protested against the construction of the dam and eventually got ready to be relocated to a place unknown to them. 

Their new village is a settlement raised in the middle of the desert. Drygas‘s observational film offers a sensitive and intimate testimony of a local reality, which also addresses bigger questions about the place of traditions in a modernising globalised world.

Directed by Maciej Drygas
Duration: 73′
Year: 2013

This screening is part of the 12th Polish Film Festival KINOTEKA

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The Washm Station in central Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is the city’s oldest and busiest fire station. With daily temperatures exceeding 50°C during the busy summer months, this is one of the hardest environments for a fire fighter to work in.

Through unrestricted access behind the scenes of the Washm fire station award-winning director Tom Roberts managed to capture daily life in extraordinary circumstances.

Offering an intimate portrait of life in Saudi Arabia; the film conveys the intensity of the experience and the danger that the firefighters face every day, as well as the camaraderie that is forged in these harsh conditions.

Directed by Tom Roberts
Duration: 53′
Year: 2013