Ours is a Country of Words

Belgium | 2017 | 42 min | Documentary In the Shatila refugee camp, established in Lebanon after the forced displacement of thousands of Palestinians during the Nakba in 1948, families in an imagined future prepare for their long-awaited return to Palestine. What begins as a hopeful preparation gradually becomes a poignant reflection on the gap between their cherished dream and the harsh realities of daily life. This hybrid documentary intertwines dreams and memories with the everyday, exploring the meaning of exile and the power of imagination to sustain hope. A film by Mathijs Poppe Mathijs Poppe (Belgium, 1990) is a filmmaker. Living in Brussels, he developed close ties with the Palestinian community in Lebanon since his first visit to the Shatila refugee camp in 2008. In 2017, he graduated from the KASK School of Arts and gained acclaim for his graduation film, “Ours is a Country of Words”, filmed in Shatila. For his first feature film, “The Jacket” (2024), Poppe continued to deepen his collaboration with the Palestinian actor Jamal Hindawi and his family. Both films delicately tread the thin line between documentary and fiction.