Synopsis
The Jacket is a portrait of Jamal Hindawi, a Palestinian man who lives in exile with his family in the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon. Together with his friends, he makes political theatre about their profound connection to their homeland, Palestine, and their situation as refugees in their country of residence, Lebanon. When Jamal embarks on a journey to search for an important lost theatre prop, he witnesses how the successive political and economic crises have disrupted an entire region and its people.
Press
“Mathijs Poppe has made an arresting and intriguing feature debut with The Jacket.” – David Katz (Cineuropa)
Festivals
Film Fest Gent, Belgique (2024)
IDFA, Pays-Bas (2024)
Director's Biography
Mathijs Poppe (Belgium, 1990) is a filmmaker based in Brussels. Since he first visited the Chatila refugee camp in 2008, he has maintained close links with the Palestinian community in Lebanon. In 2017, he completed his studies at KASK / School of Arts with an award-winning documentary, shot in Chatilla : Ours is a Country of Words. In his first feature film, The Jacket (2024), Poppe deepened his collaboration with Palestinian actor Jamal Hindawi and his family. The two films tell a story on the edge of reality, somewhere between documentary and fiction.
