A man hunts a lion nobody believes exists—because the real predator is memory.
After his recovery, middle-aged Hamza has continued a practice he began 20 years ago when he was freed from an Israeli prison: he goes into the woods every day to chase the lion that the locals don’t think exists. Hamza struggles to reach a peaceful place. Despite his wife’s pleadings and the villagers’ contempt, Hamza sits his baits and traps in the forest, hoping to defeat the mysterious threat. He finds refuge in his journey from social rejection and denial. In the woods, Hamza is free to act according to his beliefs, fighting his own battle to heal an open wound – the trauma of losing his childhood friend, and the horrific memories of torture and guilt.
Acting
Kamel El Basha's silence screams louder than dialogue.
Cinematography
The forest becomes a character—liminal, hungry, holy.
Direction
Kayyal treats 18 minutes like a lifetime.
Director
Ward Kayyal
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Kayyal filmed in occupied West Bank territories; the lion as metaphor for state violence is deliberately unstable—Palestinian audiences often read it as both trauma and resistance.
El Basha spent weeks learning actual tracking techniques from Palestinian hunters; the bait-setting scenes are documentary-accurate, grounding fantasy in muscle memory.
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