Iraq/UK/The Netherlands 2006, Arabic with English subtitles, 35mm, 110 min
Director: Mohamed Al-Daradji
Screenplay: Mohamed Al-Daradji
Cinematography: Mohamed Al-Daradji
Cast: Asel Adel, Basher Al Maijde, Mohamed Hashem
Print Source: Humanfilm
While it is a miracle that any films are coming out of Iraq at the moment, it is a far greater miracle that films of the calibre of Dreams are being made. Taking place amid the uncertainty, confusion and horror of a psychiatric hospital in war-torn Baghdad in 2003, the film tells the story of Ahlaam, a bewildered woman who is confined to the asylum in the wake of witnessing the violent arrest of her husband on her wedding day. Deeply damaged, she lives in a state of continual delusion and her name – meaning dream – refers both to her mental state and to the dream of a free, egalitarian Iraq .
Dr Mehdi works at the hospital. He is a hard-working idealist who has been exiled to the institution despite his abilities. He longs for a free Iraq where the human desire for truth and goodness will triumph over the brutality with which his country has become so intimate. Ali is a patient and a shell-shocked former soldier whose fearless insanity may be the hospital's only hope.
Dreams was filmed under harrowing conditions, with its cast and crew subject to kidnappings from both sides. And from the centre of this terrible war they have made a film that is both disturbing and transcendently beautiful.
The Cape Winelands will again at the 2012 edition of this festival present a series of Masterclasses and workshops. These events are sponsored by the City of Cape Town and Wesgro.
Winner of the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes festival, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s new film has the magic of a fairy tale and the simplicity of a folk tale. Wonderfully immersive, slow and dreamy, 
