The director of the film Grandma, a Thousand Times Mahmoud Kaabour and his producer / fiancee have traveled to Lebanon to celebrate their wedding. Mahmoud also filming a portrait or his dear grandmother “Teta”. This over 80-year-old woman lives alone in a big house, raises water for coffee from the courtyard with a bucket, doesn't go out much and enjoys most of all smoking shisha.
– It is not good for her health, one of the relatives notes, but I need her moments of smoke at least as much as she does. It has this stability, peace and serenity that we have lost.
The grandma is illiterate but tells that she can ”do everything else”. The young Mahdmoud reminds her or her late husband who was a musician. The marriage was apparently a happy one, the result of which are the six children and a group of grandchildren, many of whom live permanently abroad. The family members and memories are presented in the same manner as the grandmother smokes her shisha – peacefully, but with a twinkle in the eye. The animated elements and old photographs jazz up the story. There is no suspense to speak of.
The short introduction of a domestic worker from east reveals that at times Teta can also be pretty demanding. And when the grandma meets Mahmoud's fiancee for the first time, she whispers directly to the camera: ”Oh, she's ugly!”
Anna Rotkirch, Manager, The Family Federation
