Tuesday, June 4, 2013

SFF Review: It's About To Rain (Haider Rashim, 2013)

Said Mahran (Lorenzo Baglioni) is a man of Algerian heritage. His father, Hamid (Mohammed Hanifi) is Algerian, but having emigrated to Italy thirty years prior, Said and his brother, Amir (Amir Ati), were born in Florence and have been living in Italy their entire life. Said has never once visited Algeria and considers Italy his home, but having never been granted certified citizenship his family continually has to apply for working visas. Their legal ‘acceptance’ is temporary.


When industrial businesses begin to go under, layoffs and closures ensue. Hamid’s boss commits suicide and Hamid loses his job, which in-turn results in the entire family faced with expulsion from Italy within fifteen days. Angered by this injustice Said relentlessly fights their case, hiring lawyers and bringing this widespread issue of dislocation to the attention of the media.

It’s About To Rain is a potent cultural study, covering the internal drama of a family who have been forced to let go of any future ambitions and completely change the course of their life, and the bureaucratic mess that not only affects the second-grade Italian citizens who are denied connection with the culture, but ALL Italians.

Continue reading at Graffiti With Punctuation.

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