Film: On the Bride’s Side

In On the Bride’s Side (2014; 98 min.), a Palestinian poet and an Italian journalist decide to help five Palestinians and Syrians in Milan complete a journey from war-torn Syria to Sweden. And in hopes of avoiding being arrested as traffickers, they fake a wedding as their cover. With a Palestinian friend dressed up as the bride and more than a dozen Italian and Syrian friends posing as wedding guests, the group travels halfway across Europe on a four-day journey of almost 2,000 miles. This emotionally charged journey not only brings out the stories, hopes, and dreams of the five refugees and their rather special traffickers, but also reveals a transnational, supportive, and irreverent Europe that ridicules laws and restrictions. The film acts as a kind of masquerade: it is a recording of an actual journey from Milan to Stockholm from November 14 to November 18, 2013.

This screening is programmed by the Center for European Studies at Harvard University, in partnership with the Middle East Initiative and the Harvard Art Museums.

The event will take place in Menschel Hall, Lower Level. Please enter the museums via the entrance on Broadway.

Free admission

Complimentary parking available in the Broadway Garage, 7 Felton Street, Cambridge.

Support for this program is provided by the Richard L. Menschel Endowment Fund.