What It’s About
Chatila (Bakri) and Reda (Sabbah) are Palestinian refugees who resort to petty thievery to survive in Athens. Chatila has dreams of getting to Germany and opening a café, but Reda’s dope habit gets in the way. Chatila befriends Malik (Alsurafa), a teenage orphan trying to reach his aunt in Italy, then meets Tatiana (Papoulia), a lonely Greek woman. Using his two new friends, he concocts a daring scheme that could solve all his problems.
Why We Love It
Palestinian/Danish director Fleifel scores a bullseye with this, her first narrative feature. With worldwide migration exploding, “Unknown” feels highly specific to our moment. Yet it also tells a timeless human story about male friendship, with shades of “Mean Streets”. Chatila is smart, motivated and desperate – but also protective of the weak, vulnerable Reda, even as he hampers his own progress. The whole cast is superb, making us feel the pain and frustration of these displaced souls, who, we are reminded by this excellent and timely film, are fellow human beings.