Nights of the Jackals (Layali Ibn Awah), by Abdellatif Abdul-Hamid (Syria, 1989, 102 min, Color, 35 mm)
 
Synopsis:
Nights of the Jackals follows the life of a peasant family, whose days are spent plowing fields and nights are punctuated by the menacing howling of jackals. The stern father, a retired army officer, organizes his family’s life and labor as he would a small platoon. The eldest son is sent away to study, the beautiful daughter grows frustrated waiting for her painfully shy suitor to ask for her hand, and the younger son pines for the neighbor's wife. Their lives all change dramatically as the 1967 war breaks out, resulting in a brilliant rendering of the war’s impact on village folks.
Credits:

Directed by: Abdellatif Abdul-Hamid
Script: Abdellatif Abdul-Hamid
Camera: Abdo Hamzeh
Costumes: Larissa Abdul-Hamid
Décor: Muaffak Qat
Make Up: Stella Khalil
Editing: Antoinette Azriyeh
Cast: Ass‘ad Fedda, Najah Abdullah, Bassam Koussa, Zuheir Ramadan, Tulai Haroun.
Production: General Organization for Cinema, Syria
Filmmaker’s Biography:

Born in Lattakiah, in 1954, Abdellatif Abdul-Hamid worked as an actor, musician and singer in the theaters of his hometown prior to pursuing studies in film directing. Two years after enrolling in the University of Lattakiah to study Arabic literature, he earned a scholarship to study at the VGIK (Moscow Film Institute), where he graduated in 1981.

He has directed two short documentaries for the General Organization for Cinema in Syria, Umniyat (Wishes, 1983) and Aydeena (Our Hands, 1983). He worked as an assistant director to Mohammad Malas on Ahlam al-Madina (Dreams of the City, 1983). He also played the lead role in Oussama Mohammad's Stars in Broad Day (Nujum an-Nahar, 1988). Among Syrian filmmakers his work has garnered the widest popular appeal in Syria and the Arab world. His filmography includes, Layali Ibn Awah (Nights of the Jackals, 1988), Rasa’el Shafahiyyah (Verbal Letters, 1991), Su'ud al-Matar (The Rise of Rain, 1994), Nassim al-Rouh (Soul Breeze, 1998), Qamaran wa Zaytounah (Two Moons and an Olive, 2001), Ma Yatlubuhu al-Mustami‘un (At Our Listeners' Request, 2003). He has just completed his seventh fiction feature, due for release in 2006. He has written the scripts for all his films, as well as the script for a television serial entitled Usbu‘an wa Khamsat Shuhur (Two Weeks and Five Months, 1985).

His films have earned numerous awards in the Arab world, beginning with the Damascus Film Festival, the Journées Cinématographiques de Carthage (Tunisia), and Rabat International Film Festival (Morocco). They have also received critical acclaim world wide: Verbal Letters received the Golden Olive at the Valencia Mediterranean Film Festival in 1992 and At Our Listeners' Request received the Special Acknowledgement at the Asiatica Film Mediale in Italy in 2003 “for the lyricism with which he was capable of describing the tricks of fortune and the reality of war.”
Print Source:
The General Organization for Cinema, Damascus, Syria
Contact: Mr. Mohammad el-Ahmad (director) or Mr. Raafat Charkas (Festivals)
Tel: +963 11 332 0876/ 332 0892
Fax: +963 11 332 3556
Email: cinema@mail.sy