Placeless Films

Jamal Hindawi, a 50-year-old Palestinian, lives with his family in the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, where he makes political theatre. Together with a group of friends, he is working on a play that tells the story of an old jacket that symbolises the Palestinian identity. One day, after rehearsals, Jamal goes into the mountains with his friend Zreik, and on the way there he loses the jacket on a bus. A journey unfolds that takes Jamal from the mountains through Beirut, a city in radical transition, where successive crises and protests have left deep scars.

Set in the early years of the Syrian war, Valley of Exile chronicles the journey of Rima and Nour, two sisters who find unexpected refuge in a makeshift settlement in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley after fleeing war-torn Damascus. Older sister Rima, who is eight months pregnant, is set on reuniting with her husband and rebuilding their lives in Lebanon, while younger sister Nour is determined to find their missing brother and eventually returns home to Syria.​ In the camp, the sisters forge alliances with other women who are similarly forced to live without the support of family they’ve lost to the war. This propels them onto separate paths. But as days in the camp turn to weeks, Rima and Nour begin to realize that their exile is not only a struggle for survival, but ultimately a test of loyalty to their country, their family and each other.