A beautiful animated film based on stories of refugees still living in the camps today.

Beirut in Lebanon. Wardi is 11, a fourth-generation refugee, living in a Palestinian refugee camp. Additions are being made in height. Generation after generation, taller and taller towers have sprung up. High up in one of those towers lies her great-grandfather Sidi. The 83-year-old man was one of the first to move there after fleeing from Galilee. As his death approaches, he wants Wardi to learn his history. To this end, he sends her on an exploration through the tower. On each floor, she must speak to a generation and learn from their stories, their hopes and dreams, to know her family’s background. Finally, Sidi will give her the key to the house from which he was expelled in 1948.

For the film, a beautifully animated documentary with fictional elements, the director used a mix of animation techniques: stop-motion for the characters and buildings, real footage of the camps for the backgrounds and digitally drawn animation for the flashbacks. In 1990, while studying at the American University in Beirut, the director taught English and animation classes in a Palestinian refugee camp.