Historical epic A Land for a Stranger depicts the latter years of the life of Abdel-Rahman al-Kawakibi (1852-1902), an important intellectual figure in the late Ottoman world, who was hounded by Ottoman police and found refuge in Egypt. A native of Aleppo, he authored Characteristic of Tyranny, which called for radical democratic and egalitarian political reforms, a book considered today one of the foundational text in the modern Arab world. The film is the National Organization for Cinema's most ambitious production and amongst its most accomplished.

Directed by: Samir Zikra
Script: Samir Zikra
Based a novel by Faisal Khartash
Camera: Hanna Ward
Music: Jarayer Ranisian
Editing: Zuheir al-Dayeh
Cast: Bassam Koussa, Oussama Ashour, Iman al-Ghouri, Najwa Kundukji, Fayez Abou Dan, Oussama al-Sayyed Youssef, Hagop Mikhaelian, Ahmad Makarati
Production: National Organization for Cinema, Syria

Born in Beirut in 1945, but raised in Aleppo, author, screenwriter and director, Samir Zikra graduated from the Russian State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in 1973. During his Muscovite studies, and between the years 1968 and 1973, he directed a number of short fiction films including, al-Sakran Yanfi (The Drunk Denies) based on a story by Negib Mahfouz, and al-Matar Sabe‘en (Airport 70) adapted from a story by Arthur Hailey.

The 1973 war with Israel erupted while Zikra was doing his military service and he directed a number of documentary films on that experience between the years 1974 and 1976, including Lan Nansa (We Will Not Forget), al-Shuhud (The Witnesses), al-Bahr Jabhatuna al-Gharbiyya (The Sea Our Western Front). In 1977, he co-authored the script for Baqaya Suwar (Fragments, 1979) with Nabil el-Maleh (who directed the film), based on a novel by Syrian auteur, Hanna Mina. In 1980, he directed a documentary on the everyday struggles of women in contemporary Syrian society, titled ‘Anha (On Her). In 1981, he directed his first fiction feature, Hadithat el-Nosf Metr (The Half-Meter Incident), adapted from a novel by the same title by Sabri Moussa. The film is considered a watershed for a generation of new filmmakers in Syria, heralding the turn to auteur cinema while presenting an unapologetic social and political reading of Syrian society. The film received wide critical acclaim within the region and internationally. It was selected at the Venice Film Festival (Italy), Berlinale (Germany), Journées Cinématographiques de Carthage (Tunisia) and Valencia Mediterranean Film Festival (Spain), where it earned the bronze Olive. In 1983, he co-authored the script for Mohammad Malas's first fiction feature, Ahlam al-Madina (Dreams of the City, 1983). In 1986, he directed his second fiction feature, Waqae‘h al-‘Am al-Muqbel (Chronicles of the Coming Year, 1985). It too traveled widely on the festival circuit earning awards and acclaim.

Zikra worked in television, until he returned to cinema to direct the historical epic, Turab al-Ghuraba’ (Land for A Stranger), in 1998. The film, inspired by a novel of the same name by Faysal Khartash, recounted the life of one of the late Ottoman Levant's most influential thinkers, Abdel-Rahman al-Kawakibi. The film earned the first prize at the Cairo International Film Festival, in addition to other awards elsewhere in the region. Zikra has just released his most recent feature, ‘Alaqat ‘Aamah (Public Relations, 2005).