Synopsis

The last of a trilogy portraying three women from Syria, Tunisia, and Lebanon, The Little Lantern tells the story of Anni Høver Kanafani - an 87-year-old Danish woman, who moved to Lebanon in the 1960s for the love of the Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani. Following the death of her husband, Anni Kanafani pursued his dream of justice and integration, continuing to live and work in Palestinian camps, creating kindergartens dedicated to education and childcare. The film is titled after a fairy tale that Ghassan Kanafani had written for his niece Lamis, which is a metaphorical narration of the development of a bottom-up democracy that can break down the barriers of refugee camps and overcome indifference through engagement and culture. The narrative frame of the film consists of a laboratory, conceived and coordinated by the film director, in the kindergarten created by Anni Kanafani in the Burj el Barajneh refugee camp. It ends with the staging of the theatrical adaptation of Ghassan Kanafani’s fairy tale in two theatres in Beirut. The documentary style and that of the fictional story alternate, as do the two narrative temporalities, that of a painful past and present, where pain finds its meaning.

Italy
60 minutes, 19 seconds

2020

 Arabic and English with English subtitles

Leading Cast: Anni Høver Kanafani

Screenplay and direction: Mario Rizzi

Partially adapted from The Little Lantern by Ghassan Kanafani

Photography: Mario Rizzi

Film editor: Marco Rizzo

Sound editor: Francesca Genevois

Mix: Paolo Segat

Color Grading: Andrea Maguolo

Awards: The Italian Council Production Award (2018), awarded by the Italian Ministry of Culture.