"I want to touch peoples hearts; I want to be the voice of the voiceless," Darin Sallam, the Jordanian of Palestinian roots writer and director of the film "Farha" said in an interview with the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) on the occasion of the second screening of the film in Cyprus recalling how moved she was when a Cypriot woman approached her after the premiere in Toronto, Canada, to tell her how emotional the film made her feel as it reminded of her own country. "That is why I make films", Sallam noted. Darin Sallam's debut feature film Farha had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2021. The film was also Jordan's 2023 Oscars entry. It secured best youth film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Additionally, the film has won 'Best Euro-Mediterranean Film dealing with Women Issues/ EU Award,' 'Best Director Award' and 'Best Actress Award' at the Aswan International Film Festival 2022 and has also received a 'Special Mention Award' at the Red Sea International Film Festival in 202 1. It reached a much larger audience when it arrived on Netflix. It screened in Nicosia few months ago and in Larnaca on Saturday and on this occasion Darin Sallam is visiting Cyprus. What is the story of the film, we asked. It is set in a Palestinian village, the director told us. "Farha tells the true story of a 14-year-old girl, Radiye was her real name, in 1948, during the Nakba ('catastrophe') in which more than 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes. Her father was worrying that she would be raped or killed, so he locked her in a room promising that he would return for her. But he did not return. And we see through her eyes some of the events that unfold in the village". How did she found the story was the next question. "I always say the story found me," Darin Sallam said. "There was a girl named Radieh who lived in Palestine in 1948, and she was locked in a room by her father to protect her from Israel's invasion. Radieh survived and walked to Syria where she shared her story w ith another girl. That other girl grew up, had a daughter of her own, and shared Radieh's story with her own daughter-who happened to be me," she explained. One of the most interesting elements of the film is that the story unfolds through the eyes of the girl who is confined in that small room and eyewitness things happening from a small opening on the wall. Invited to comment on this observation, Sallam said that "I wanted to intensify Farha's journey, to make it more powerfull without actually showing bloody scenes". Is "Farha" the journey of a girl or a cinematographic Palestinian narrative as regards the 1948 events? Both, Sallam replied. "I am claustrophobic myself. I also grew up listening to stories about Nakba. But I think what triggered me was the second intifada, in 2000, and the boy's, Muhammad al-Durrah, killing in the Gaza strip. The boy and his father, who begged not to be shoot at but the Israeli soldiers shoot and killed the boy. We usually talk about numbers. The number of dead, the number of killed. After that, it was not numbers anymore," she went on. "As a filmmaker, I can't make any film unless I feel the urge to share the story-especially if the story haunts me, as it did with Farha. You know, when I saw the photos of the death of the boy, Muhammad al-Durrah -who should never be forgotten; we must not let him be forgotten- I was shocked. And I started drawing . That is how it began for me, with drawings. So, once I drew a storyboard about a Palestinian boy I then started writing a story which I finally made into a film," Darin Sallam said. "When you talk about Palestine, it becomes more and more challenging because it's a topic that is avoided. This Palestinian side of the narrative, many don't want to hear it. It was very hard to get funding," she said when asked whether she faced any particular difficulties in making "Farha" due to her being a Palestinian or a woman. She faced difficulties because of the content of the film, she explained. "It was difficult because the film speaks abo ut nakba. It was difficult because a lie was created in 1948 that it was about Israel's creation and not the catastrophe of Palestine. And the people believed it. My generation knows nothing about the root of what we are now witnessing in Gaza. It was considered as a religion conflict, but it was not and it is not. So, yes, it was difficult to film Farha because it was difficult to secure funding and to get support and this is due to the topic of the film," Sallam said, while narrating her account of the difficulties. She received many threats and hate messages and she was even being warned that it may ruin her career, she added. "I began making this film not because I am a politician. But when I received all those threats I felt that I had to talk political," Sallam told CNA. "It is not contrversial, only zionists hated the film," was her response to a comment that some described the film as controversial and that it received quite a backlash. It is also a fact, she went on, that many people told me, 'why don't you make it about another country, give the girl a different nationality?' And I've always said it's a universal and timeless story that could happen anywhere, anytime. I'm not a politician, but I decided to stay loyal to this story, as if I'm responsible for the voice of this young girl". Did she succeeded in fullfiling this objective? "Some people imagined their daughter in Farha's place, or they were reminded of their country" its her response. In Toronto, Canada, after the screening of "Farha", Sallam recounted, "a Cypriot woman came to me and told me, watching the film I remember of my country. She was very emotional". There was also another incident after the world premiere of the film. "A man from the audience approached me after the screening and told be the film opened my eyes." Recounting these reactions to the film, Darin Sallam noted: That is why we make films and if I am to call myself an artist the humanity is my frame. It always should be a human story at the core of the film. If you do nt have compassion you cannot do this". Having said this is "Farha 2" to be expected? "Many people ask me this. I dream to make a film about Farha's children and grandcildren returnig to Palestine. Farha is one girl of a million Palestinians, one of many stories; a drop in the ocean compared to what is happening now. Therefore I want to tell people, be on the right side of history, talk, do something," she noted. So it all goes back to the Palestinian narrative? "Making this film was very emotional for me. Farha is symbolic. It symbolises the Palestinian women, and Palestinian women are very resilient," Sallam confessed. "The Palestinian cause is not political; it's a humane cause. I ask the people to be on the right side of history,' she reiterated. Invited to talk about the artistic side of the film, Darin Sallam had another confession to make. "It' was also a challenge for me, as a film writer and director, to have most of the film happening in a confined space. It looks simple but it was very complex b ecause I wanted to make the film in a very artistic way and that is why the camera never leaves the room, that is why I never changed the lences, I refused to listen when I was told let us filmed some scenes outside, let us show the blood and the violence; you almost dont see blood in the entire film," she explained Concluding we asked what is Darin Sallam's aim as an artist. "As an artist, a filmaker, I want to touch peoples' hearts. Life is too short and it takes years and years to make a film. So, I want to make films that can move people," she said and added: "I want to be the voice of the voiceless". Source: Cyprus News Agency