SG – Aida Returns

About Aida Returns

At year’s end, many traditions feature reminiscing ‘for auld lang syne’ (for the sake of old times) where remembering together and cherishing the past, are interwoven with forward hopes and dreams. Like few other cinematographic projects, Aida Returns (Carol Mansour, 2023) melts these notions with purpose. Studium Generale presents her film in our calendar year opening at Movie W.

This award-winning film by Carol Mansour, documents the personal private story of a woman named Aida, her daughter, a constellation of friends and unlikely acquaintances dealing with loss, belonging, as well as the urgency to remember and certainly not forget. Aida’s Alzheimer’s condition and her final wishes to return to the place of her childhood, Yafa, results in an intimate documentary where we witness pain, joy and humorous absurdity in the plan recorded by Aida’s daughter, filmmaker Carol Mansour. Close to four years after Aida’s passing away, the director’s friend and colleague Tanya, who lives in Ramallah visits Beirut. When she hears about Aida’s wishes and yearning for Yafa, Tanya suggests that she herself carry the ashes back; a return that is aided by an unlikely set of friends and strangers all coming together to facilitate what should have been a simple journey. Despite the ongoing occupation of Palestinian Territories,no effort is spared to grant her mother’s final wishes to rest in peace in the place she grew up. What is lost and what is gained is merged with the weight of forgetting and urgency to remember within a family, a friend group but also among displaced Palestinians dispersed around the world. A poignant personal film about longing for a homecoming underscores the power of love and hope for the future.

About Carol Mansour

Carol Mansour is an independent documentary film maker with over 25 years in documentary production who has achieved international recognition and honour for her films, with over seventy worldwide film festival screenings and official selections worldwide. Her films have won numerous prestigious awards. Carol’s work reflects her concern for human rights and social justice, covering issues such as migrant workers, refugees, environmental issues, mental health, rights of the disabled, war and memory, right to health, and child labour. Carol is Lebanese/ Canadian of Palestinian origin.

In November 2024 Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi won three awards at CIFF (Cairo International Film Festival) for their latest film "A State of Passion". This film premiered at the 45th Cairo International Film Festival on November 16^th and received the “Best Arab Film Award" in the Horizons of Arab Cinema category, the “Jury Special Award for Best Documentary” in the documentary category, and the “Silver Award for Best Palestinian Film” in the Spotlights on Palestinian Cinema category.

Other documentary films by Carol Mansour include:

• Sisterhood” (2022); 36’; Migrant Domestic Workers’ solidarity in Lebanon
• “Shattered: Beirut 6.07” (2020); 17’; the aftermath of the Beirut port blast
• "Thank you Soma" (2018); 55’; the relationship between a young Lebanese woman and the migrant domestic worker who raised her
• "Men on Hold" (2018); 72’; the plight of Syrian refugee men in Lebanon
• "Stitching Palestine" (2017); 78’; 12 Palestinian women share their stories on the backdrop of traditional embroidery
• "It’s Just Another Place" (2016), 36’; experiences of people living with Down Syndrome and their families
• "We cannot go there now, my Dear" (2014), 42’; the double-refugee experience of Palestinians from Syria
• "Not Who We Are" (2013), 71’; Syrian refugee women in Lebanon
• "We Want To Know" (2012), 42' ; exploring the memory of the Lebanese civil war
• "Where do I begin?" (2011), 36'; mental health in Lebanon
• "All for the Nation" (2011), 52'; examining the inability of Lebanese women to give the nationality to spouses and children
• "I Come From a Beautiful Place" (2010), 33'; Iraqi and Sudanese refugees in Lebanon
• "Maid in Lebanon II: Voices from Home" (2008), 40'; the connection of female migrant domestic workers with their home countries
• "A Summer Not to Forget" (2007), 27'; chronicling the Israeli war on Lebanon of 2006
• "Invisible Children" (2006), 26'; working children
• "Maid in Lebanon" (2005), 27'; highlighting the plight of female migrant domestic workers
• "100% Asphalt" (2002), 26'; street children of Cairo

List of Short Documentary Films:

• “Those Still Standing” (2021), 5'; One year after the Beirut Port blast
• “Shattered: Beirut 6.07” (2020), 17'; The aftermath of the Beirut Port blast in the community
• “A COVID Diary” (2020), 5'; Managing daily life under Covid-19