A past massacre that tragically finds its continuation today sustains the plot of the documentary “Souls in Transit” by Iraqi filmmaker Aida Schlaepfer Al Hassani.
For 77 minutes the material zooms in on the story of a largely unknown genocide: the murder of three million Christians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire, in what were genocides on communities of Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks.
With the help of witnesses, Aida Schlaepfer Al Hassani tells the details of this extermination that occurred in 1915 and that is somehow reflected in the current conflicts.
The Arab Union of Cuba will host the screening of the material on December 19 (6:00 pm) and on December 20 at the Charles Chaplin cinema (3:00 pm).
Although she was born in Baghdad to a Lebanese mother and an Iraqi father, at the age of 20 Aida Schlaepfer Al Hassani began her studies in Europe and in Switzerland obtained a degree in Media Art and Design.
Also the founder and president of the Zurich International Arab Film Festival, she is the author of Marionette (2005) documentary that was shown at various film festivals around the world, including Poland, Cairo and the United States.
In addition to maintaining her activities in film production, in 2013 Aida Schlaepfer Al Hassani starred in the film Al Haj Nejim by director Amer Alwan. The film won an important prize at the Rabat International Film Festival, 2014.
