The Absence of Apricots [2018]
49 min. | 2k | 5.1 | Pakistan, Germany
in cooperation with National College of Arts Lahore and University of Television and Film Munich
streaming on Royal Anthropological Institute and dafilms
Synopsis
A documentary fairy-tale about the struggle for identity in the Hunza Valley set in a village located in the Northern-Pakistan somewhere between the past and the future. A magnificent turquoise lake in between rough, steep cliff surrounds the small village. But the lake hasn’t been always there. One day, an enormous landslide blocked a river. In a few months, this river turned into a huge lake, which is now up to 30km long. Thousands of homes and fields were flooded. Entire villages disappeared forever. Thousands of people got dislocated and had to look for different places where to live. What is left are the stories of those that once used to live there which are passed on from generation to generation.
Awards

Best Medium Length Film – 22. Riga Int. Short Film Festival 2Annas, Latvia
Wiley Blackwell Student Film Prize – 16. RAI Filmfestival, UK

Jury Special Mention – 67. Trento Film Festival
Credits
cast | Naveed Ullah Baig, Fatma Ayaz, Bitan Mashroof, Abdul Rasheed,
Lahooda Bibi, Abdul Majeed, Shagufta Bano, Sarfraz Khan,
Abdul Hameed, Khaliya Parveen, Abdul Basit
director, writer, producer | Daniel Asadi Faezi

assistant director | Ali Atif

cinematographer | Lilli Pongratz
additional cinematography | Daniel Asadi Faezi
sound recording | Ali Atif, Mila Zhluktenko

music | Andy Ozbolt & Ferdinand Kavall
editor | Mila Zhluktenko
sound design | Andrew Mottl
re-recording mixer | Florian Schneeweiß

title design | Mahnas Sarwari

distributor | Daniel Asadi Faezi
Festivals

49. VISIONS DU RÉEL Int. Medium Length and Shortfilm Competition, Switzerland

16. MOUNTAINFILM Festival Kathmandu, Nepal

18. ESCALES DOCUMENTAIRES La Rochelle, France

35. FESTIVAL International du Film de Montagne d’Autrans, France

22. RIGAInternational Short Film Festival 2Annas, Latvia

32. MOUNTAINFILM Festival Graz, Austria
41. POITIERS Film Festival, France
11. NONFIKTIONAL Bad Aibling, Germany
08. ECOFALANTE Environmental Film Festival, Brasil
32. EMAF Osnabrück, Germany

67. TRENTO Film Festival, Italy
16. RAI Royal Anthropological Institute Film Festival, UK
16. TARTU World Film Festival, Estonia
25. FESTIVAL della Lessinia, Italy
28. ETHNOLOGICAL Film Festival Belgrade, Serbia

50. ART Alexandre Trauner Festival, Hungary
03. FIELD RECORDINGS Rotterdam, Netherlands
Press

Weaving together the past and the future, myths and sketches of everyday life, director Daniel Asadi Faezi creates a rich tapestry of images that create a sensual and textured dance of death and resurrection. And the ghosts that still roam the cliffs and the valley, join the humans in their dance.
– Giona A. Nazzaro (Visions du Réel)
The sound emerges many times as ancestral breath, while the desolate landscapes and the actions of men report manifestations anchored in the individual and collective memory of all the protagonists.
– Jury Statement 67. Trento Film Festival (Italian)