Chronicle of a Disappearance (سجل اختفاء)

Dhat Production Presents

CHRONICLE OF A DISAPPEARANCE

A Film by Elia Suleiman

PART I - NAZARETH PERSONAL DIARY

"The first morning home after a long absence,

I'm awakened by the clicking of my aunt's heels.

She's going with my mother to pay condolences."

No one's around, so let's talk...

That stubborn woman refuses to offer her condolences.

I found her sulking on the balcony

because she wasn't invited to her granddaughter's wedding.

Yet, her daughter-in-law was invited. Now they hate each other.

Brothers, sisters, brothers and sisters-in-law won't talk!

They were friends, but then she butted in.

She says she wants to see a fortune-teller about her grandchild's name.

The girl's prone to accidents and always gets ill.

Her son was loaded with money,

the richest of the brothers, didn't know what to do with his cash.

Now it's getting worse and worse.

She broke her nephew's engagement.

His fianc?e was educated, a schoolteacher, nice figure,

sweet, beautiful eyes, she even owns a car.

She works, saves money, she's perfect, just slightly dark.

And who is she, Snow White?

She criticizes her health, says her uncle and aunts died of cancer.

Her mother bore many kids, her father doted on her.

3 handbags, 3 dresses, 3 pairs of shoes, the engagement cost a fortune.

She says she doesn't want a girl from Shafr Amre. Say it before!

Not after the engagement. They spent a fortune, what a rip-off!

She said her first fianc? kissed her a hundred times.

So what, kisses fly away, he didn't spoil her! To hell with her!

Her sister's mourning isn't over,

she wears makeup like a whore, a ring on each finger!

At the wedding, she danced with a scarf, shaking her ass,

as if it was gonna come off her body...

She's got varicose veins and sweated like a pig.

Whenever she sat down, she stuffed herself.

She wore a long blouse to hide her fat hips.

Rumors say she steals things in other people's homes.

No wonder her husband keeled over.

Died in his armchair, legs crossed, book on the floor.

My heart broke.

She should die, that bitch.

I'd rather not talk about it.

The Voice of Israel from Jerusalem Al-Qods. Five past seven...

- Put it away. - Too late!

- Don't bust my ass! - Fuck off!

- Come on, drop it! - No!

Don't complicate things!

- Don't listen to them! - Don't take their money.

- Let go! - Calm down.

Fine.

I'll smash your teeth.

I said I'd pay and I will.

Check her.

Open her.

Is it true that

a guy from around Nazareth

wrote his Ph.D. thesis

on how a man pees?

At the last few drops, he shivers

and he shakes.

To him, it proves man descends from animals.

He once had a tail...

now it's gone.

Yet, he keeps shaking his ass...

as if he still had one.

Is it true?

Welcome back.

Cheers.

THE DAY AFTER

Get out of the car.

I shouldn't be ashamed?

I'm never ashamed, buddy!

- I'll show you. - Me, I'm not ashamed?

Let go. I just want to talk to him.

To say what? Aren't you ashamed?

You're friends. You should be ashamed!

Let go of my arm.

I'll show him!

- Come on! - Take your jack.

Goodbye.

About women and love.

Women shun those who love them, if they don't love in return.

For a woman, the voice of love

is stronger than the voice of reason.

To conclude, dear listeners,

as they reach maturity,

women get less reasonable.

Mother of Ramzi...

Come on in!

"Come on in!"

Don't peel the garlic so soon, it gets yellow.

I have plenty unpeeled.

Nahla, get the garlic...

- Shall I peel it? - Don't peel it.

They sell ready-to-use garlic in pots.

You can find it in any shop.

20 shekels a kilo.

I peel garlic once a week.

She has nothing to do, so she peels garlic!

20 shekels, so what?

THE DAY AFTER

For the Bosnian president, Holbrooke's optimistic mood is encouraging.

The chances of a truce grow nearer as all parties are worn down

and no one is winning the war.

The division of the land has been reviewed:

61% to the Muslims and the Croatians,

49% to the Serbs, according to the new agreements.

Alexander Ivanko,

spokesman for the United Nations, says...

The main thing is that both parties

agree to end the fighting and this tragedy.

But this optimism may not last,

as many previous agreements were violated

during the Bosnian war.

In Algeria, a booby-trapped car

has killed 9 people and injured 19 others.

The bomb went off in front of a hotel in Dra Benkhada...

Charge!

Nice shot!

Go for it, kid!

Allah is great!

- Abu Adnan, you're a master! - Charge! Charge!

Stop!

- Great shot. - Smack in the middle!

It's Oklahoma everywhere!

Tell me, Jamal, are you related to the Shekshirs?

No.

God damn the best of the Shekshirs!

- And to the Abu Sallams? - Not at all.

God damn the Sallams and the Abu Sallams, they're vile!

- What about the El Sutalis? - No.

God damn them all!

I'll fuck the best in the family, one by one. Wait and see.

- What about the Mer'ebs? - With those, yes.

The Mer'ebs deserve the greatest respect.

Good people.

Really good people.

They're the best, I swear to God.

- Are they really related to you? - Yes, yes.

God bless families like that!

Nothing can be said against them!

THE DAY AFTER

No!

Don't do it!

Is he your son or not?

He's not your father?

What's the matter with you? Calm down!

You fight with your own son?

Drive carefully.

Put the gear on neutral.

Take off the hand brake.

DAYS WENT BY

THE DAY AFTER

THE DAY AFTER

APPOINTMENT WITH THE PRIEST

That's where Jesus is said to have walked over water.

Now it's a gastronomic sewer, filled with excrement,

shit of American and German tourists

who eat Chinese food.

It forms a crust on the surface of the lake.

Anyone can walk over water and make miracles now.

I'm encircled by giant buildings and kibbutzes.

As if that wasn't enough, my collar's choking me.

An odd bond unites me to those people,

like an arranged marriage, with this lake as wedding ring.

Not long ago, those hills were deserted.

At night, when I gazed at the hills from the monastery,

I contemplated a particular spot,

the darkest one on the hills.

Fear would grab me,

a fear with a religious feeling.

As if that black spot were the source of my faith.

Then, they settled on those hills and illuminated the whole place.

That was the end for me.

I began losing faith.

I feared nothing any longer.

Now, my world is small.

They've expanded their world and mine has shrunk.

There's no longer a spot of darkness out there.

Now, I will tell you a story,

a story that could be made into a film.

APPOINTMENT WITH THE WRITER

I visited Grandpa who was in the Turkish army for 3 years.

"Grandpa, tell me a story about Istanbul."

"Listen, grandson,

I'll tell you a story you'll never forget.

We were stationed 15 minutes away from Istanbul.

At lunch, the lentils were full of black worms.

I had five coins and was fed up with the worms.

I crossed the street, went by a bookshop, a clothes shop,

and reached a public garden.

There, a man with sparkling pans,

cooked lamb heads, nicely spiced, with saffron and all.

He'd serve me a head in two hot loaves of bread.

I'd sit on the nearest bench, eat,

throw the remains in the bin and go home.

The beauty of Istanbul is beyond compare."

Three or four years later, I went to grandpa and asked: