Shafaq News- Venice (Updated at 10:02)

Arab filmmakers are bringing stories of war, displacement, financial collapse, and exile to the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, with six works by filmmakers connected to Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, and the wider Arab diaspora screening across several sections of the festival.

The selection ranges from a Kurdish sniper returning to war-scarred Mosul and a Palestinian father's search for answers about his missing son to two Lebanese sisters planning a heist after losing access to their savings.

The Venice festival opened on Sept. 2 and runs through Sept. 12 on the Lido, according to La Biennale di Venezia.

Halkawt Mustafa –No Paradise if You Are Killed by a Woman

Kurdish-Norwegian filmmaker Halkawt Mustafa's No Paradise if You Are Killed by a Woman follows Vyan, a Kurdish sniper who returns to Mosul after learning that her younger sister, believed lost during ISIS's 2014 assault, may still be alive.

The journey forces her back into a city marked by war while confronting the trauma she has tried to suppress.

The 110-minute film stars Avan Jamal alongside Thorbjørn Harr, Kanar Sarchl and Kader Jalal. La Biennale lists it as a Norway-Iraqi Kurdistan production screening in Venice Open –Out of Competition.

May el-Toukhy – Kvinde Ukendt (Woman Unknown)

Director May el-Toukhy's Kvinde Ukendt (Woman Unknown) is competing in the festival's main Venezia 83 Competition, whose films contend for the Golden Lion.

Set in postwar Denmark, the film follows Marie, a young nanny and housemaid preparing to marry Christian, the wealthy widower for whom she works. Her position is threatened by the discovery of a relationship she had with a German soldier during World War Two.

The 124-minute Danish-language film is a Denmark-Sweden-Latvia production and stars Mathilde Arcel, Carsten Bjørnlund and Thorbjørn Hedegaard, among others.

Muayad Alayan –Hiwar ma' albahr (Conversation With The Sea)

Palestinian filmmaker Muayad Alayan's Hiwar ma' albahr (Conversation With The Sea) follows a Palestinian father searching for answers about a son who disappeared decades earlier.

The film stars Palestinian actor Kamel El Basha alongside Amer Hlehel, Ruba Blal, Haitham Omari, Bahira Ablassi, Maria Zreik and Rebecca Esmeralda Telhami.

La Biennale lists the 112-minute Arabic-, Hebrew- and English-language feature as a Palestine-Netherlands-Saudi Arabia-Qatar production. It screens in Venezia Spotlight.

Ahmed Hassouna –Al mowaten Osama (Citizen Osama)

Palestinian filmmaker Ahmed Hassouna's documentary Al mowaten Osama (Citizen Osama) follows Osama, a former artistic photographer who has become a war documentarian in besieged northern Gaza.

The film moves between his efforts to protect his wife and newborn child and his work documenting the destruction around him amid hunger, loss and trauma.

The Palestine-France production runs 69 minutes and screens in Venice Open – Out of Competition.

Rami Kodeih –Furies

Lebanese filmmaker Rami Kodeih's Furies turns Lebanon's financial collapse into the setting for a heist story.

The film follows Maro, a single mother trying to access her own savings to pay for surgery for her younger sister, Dalia. With banks denying depositors access to their money, the sisters devise an elaborate overnight robbery to recover their funds.

The plan draws in an ex-militia member and truck driver and quickly spirals out of control against the backdrop of Lebanon's banking and economic crisis.

La Biennale lists Furies as a 133-minute Lebanon-Brazil production starring Maria Nakouzi, Rym Mroue, Hasan Akil and Issam Bou Khaled. It screens in Venezia Spotlight.

Shaden Safieddine Tazi –Quelques instants de bonheur (A Few Moments of Happiness)

Filmmaker Shaden Safieddine Tazi explores exile and the experience of witnessing war from afar in the short documentary Quelques instants de bonheur (A Few Moments of Happiness).

The film follows a young Lebanese filmmaker watching the war in Lebanon through her phone from Paris, using screen recordings, family voices, and moments of silence to portray a generation forced to witness the destruction of its homeland from abroad.

The 18-minute France-United Kingdom production is competing in the Orizzonti Short Films International Competition, making it the one film among the six in this roundup competing in that short-film section.