Origin: Estnonia/Palestine | Documentary | Director: Toomas Järvet | 74 minutes

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Rough Stage

Toomas Järvet, documentary 74 min. Estlonia / Palestine, 2015

|Maher, a former political prisoner, an electrical engineer by|profession, but an artist at heart, is a man who starts a quest against the society in order to stage the first original contemporary dance performance in Palestinian history. But to do so he must overcome several obstacles - time, money, insured dancer, his disapproving family and friends, and cultural norms. Set in today's most contested location, Maher's story is at once a parable about a society in conflict, and a modern take on - and inversion of - "The Jazz Singer," where the real war is between dreams and tradition.

Thomas Järvet has studied law and cultural theory, but always had a crush for photography and cinema. He was selected for the IDFA Academy (2011) and was also a participant at the Berlinale Talent Campus (2013). “Rough Stage” is his first feature documentary.