Join us for a screening of Palestinian cinema in our shorts program, Film Focus: Falasteen (Palestine).
Runtime for our shorts program is approximately 97 minutes
The girls of Champ Camp are in some ways typical teenagers — eager to challenge the old ways and looking to make their mark, pursue their purpose. But Adla, Rahmeeh and We'am– Palestinians growing up in Jordan’s Al-Baqa’a refugee camp– can also lift as much as 70 KG and are aiming for medals in international weightlifting competitions. Maybe even the Olympics! To book their ticket, the young women must succeed on stage in front of their loved ones in the heart of a refugee camp. The pressure of the competition leads to tears and triumph as the team dazzles the crowd with their formidable strength.
About the Filmmakers
Ed has worked for the past 15 years as a sports journalist - travelling the world covering over 100 international stories. Highlights include the Olympics in South Korea, the World Cup in Brazil, Real Madrid in Morocco, and Barcelona in Georgia.
He met co-director Timo Bruun at the boxing world championships in 2017 and it was immediately clear that they shared a passion for telling overlooked stories from the sporting world.
HEAVY METAL is their latest project that is produced by BAFTA-winning and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Hind Shoufani. Its esteemed list of Executive Producers are John Skipper, Stanley Nelson, Gary Hoenig, and Smriti Keshari.
TIMO is a award-winning self-taught director from Hamburg. He started as a cameraman at his local TV station and has gone on to cover some of the biggest sporting events on the planet.
Three Olympic Games, three FIFA World Cups, and two UEFA European Championships are just some of the highlights from his 20 years in the business.
He’s inspired by the unobvious and is excited to tell stories in challenging arenas.
‘Pure Euphoria’ was their debut film and start of a collaboration between him and co-director Ed Knowles. The message of that film correlates with their mindset - you can do anything you want, you just have to put in the effort.
- Year2023
- Runtime31 minutes
- LanguageArabic
- CountryPalestine, State of, Jordan
- Subtitle LanguageEnglish
- Content WarningSome content may be triggering
- DirectorEdward Knowles, Timo Bruun
- ScreenwriterEdward Knowles
- ProducerHind Shoufani
- Executive ProducerJohn Skipper, Stanley Nelson, Smriti Keshari, Gary Hoenig
- CastAdla Hassouneh, Weam Qandeel, Rahima Hijazi, Bayan Qandeel, Waleed Abu-Nada, Ali AlGabri, Rama Hijazi
- CinematographerTimo Bruun, Tobias Abt
- EditorPhilipp Hartinger
- ComposerZlaya Loud
Join us for a screening of Palestinian cinema in our shorts program, Film Focus: Falasteen (Palestine).
Runtime for our shorts program is approximately 97 minutes
The girls of Champ Camp are in some ways typical teenagers — eager to challenge the old ways and looking to make their mark, pursue their purpose. But Adla, Rahmeeh and We'am– Palestinians growing up in Jordan’s Al-Baqa’a refugee camp– can also lift as much as 70 KG and are aiming for medals in international weightlifting competitions. Maybe even the Olympics! To book their ticket, the young women must succeed on stage in front of their loved ones in the heart of a refugee camp. The pressure of the competition leads to tears and triumph as the team dazzles the crowd with their formidable strength.
About the Filmmakers
Ed has worked for the past 15 years as a sports journalist - travelling the world covering over 100 international stories. Highlights include the Olympics in South Korea, the World Cup in Brazil, Real Madrid in Morocco, and Barcelona in Georgia.
He met co-director Timo Bruun at the boxing world championships in 2017 and it was immediately clear that they shared a passion for telling overlooked stories from the sporting world.
HEAVY METAL is their latest project that is produced by BAFTA-winning and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Hind Shoufani. Its esteemed list of Executive Producers are John Skipper, Stanley Nelson, Gary Hoenig, and Smriti Keshari.
TIMO is a award-winning self-taught director from Hamburg. He started as a cameraman at his local TV station and has gone on to cover some of the biggest sporting events on the planet.
Three Olympic Games, three FIFA World Cups, and two UEFA European Championships are just some of the highlights from his 20 years in the business.
He’s inspired by the unobvious and is excited to tell stories in challenging arenas.
‘Pure Euphoria’ was their debut film and start of a collaboration between him and co-director Ed Knowles. The message of that film correlates with their mindset - you can do anything you want, you just have to put in the effort.
- Year2023
- Runtime31 minutes
- LanguageArabic
- CountryPalestine, State of, Jordan
- Subtitle LanguageEnglish
- Content WarningSome content may be triggering
- DirectorEdward Knowles, Timo Bruun
- ScreenwriterEdward Knowles
- ProducerHind Shoufani
- Executive ProducerJohn Skipper, Stanley Nelson, Smriti Keshari, Gary Hoenig
- CastAdla Hassouneh, Weam Qandeel, Rahima Hijazi, Bayan Qandeel, Waleed Abu-Nada, Ali AlGabri, Rama Hijazi
- CinematographerTimo Bruun, Tobias Abt
- EditorPhilipp Hartinger
- ComposerZlaya Loud