Dear Sir Madam

I would like to take the opportunity to present my self: Salim Daw – writer / director .
I would like to present to you my latest documentry film:
new release

Mafateeh (Keys)

A 60 min. documentary – 2006

The film “Keys” recounts the story of the “uprooted” population fighting and dreaming for many years of returning to their homes. People fluctuating between despair and hope, pain and longing, dreams and reality. For the uprooted, the key symbolizes the dream and the hope of returning to their villages, some of which were eradicated from the face of the earth, and some on which Jewish settlements were built. From some of the villages remain only the rubble of destroyed homes, abandoned cemeteries, prickly sabras cactus, almonds, figs, pomegranates, olive groves and orchards – a mere reminder of the full, vibrant life that was lived in these areas until the year 1948.

There are 300,000 uprooted living in Israel and still struggling to return to their homes. The uprooted hang on to the keys of their homes as a symbol. They hang the keys on the living room wall, around their necks, place them under their pillows. Others, who did not have time to take their keys with them, sustain them as a memory in their heart.

“Keys” is made up of a sequence of human stories that take place in demolished villages and the villages in which the main characters currently reside.

Director Salim Dow embarks on a journey to the Galilee, his personal memories confronted with past memories of the main characters, the difficulties they have contending with the present and their dream of returning in the future.

The renewed encounter that Dow creates for the uprooted with their lands and the rubble of their abandoned homes, ignites in them a powerful stir of emotions. Thus, the physical contact with the land, the fruit, the vegetation and nature conveys with great intensity their dream, their hope and their desire to return to their villages, to build them anew and live a harmonious, equal life beside their Jewish neighbors.

The film was funded by the director and with the support of:

Sundance – Documentary Film Support Fund

Film Project – The Yehoshua Rabinovitz Fund for the Arts Tel Aviv

Sax Fahed Ltd. – Highway Construction and Development company

Salim Dow

Graduate of the Beit Zvi School of Stage and Cinema Arts

Graduate of International Theatre School Jacques Lecoq, Paris, France

Actor of the Haifa Theatre, Cameri Theatre and more. Guest actor at theatres worldwide.

Cinema: main rolls : “Avanti Popolo”, “The Flying Camel”, “World Cup”, “Swallows do not die in Jerusalem”, “The Shelter”, “James’ Travels in the Holy Land” and more.

Kind regards

Salim Dow

18 Hashalom St., Haifa 83063 Israel

salim_daw@yahoo.com