26th Arab Film Festival

Shorts: Childhood Imagination

Expired November 21, 2022 7:59 AM
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Even in difficult, dangerous or high pressure circumstances, these films remind us that children will always be children. They will still find a way to play, create and explore the world.

Trapped in a war ridden reality, with the hope of one day playing in the neighborhood’s football field, 8 year old Tala finds solace and freedom in a forbidden television. However, the secret TV becomes a matter of life and death.


Festivals & Awards:

WINNER Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Student Academy Awards 2021 - Gold


About the filmmaker:

Born in Jordan in 1992. Murad earned his bachelor degree in Design and Visual Communications with a focus on filmmaking from the German Jordanian University in 2014 in Jordan, during which he did an exchange year at the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt in Germany.


Following his graduation, he immersed himself deeper in his filmmaking journey and directed several short films focusing on human driven stories out of the Arab world. In 2016, Murad started studying directing at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Between 2018 and 2022, Murad wrote and directed four short films, of which most recently "Tala'vison". That went on to win various awards and honours, most recently its gold medal win at the Student Academy Awards - Oscars, and an official short listing to the 94th Academy awards. Following that Murad became a member of the The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2022. In his movies, Murad is drawn to fictionalize and portray stories out of the Arab world. In order to highlight the injustices and pose critical questions to the standing socio political structures of the East Mediterranean region.


Besides his life in academia and filmmaking, Murad is the founder and coordinator for "Follow The Nile". A nonprofit initiative in East and North Africa, aiming to help writers, directors and producers to find their own individual voices as filmmakers.


  • Year
    2021
  • Runtime
    27 minutes
  • Language
    Arabic
  • Director
    Murad Abu Eisheh
  • Screenwriter
    Murad Abu Eisheh
  • Producer
    Esther Busch, Jude Kawwa, Philipp Maurice Raube, Gabriel Waldvogel
  • Executive Producer
    Alaa Alasad, Khaled Haddad
  • Cast
    Aesha Balasem, Ziad Bakri, Khalid Al Tarifi
  • Editor
    Quirin Grimm