Incendies 2011

After their mother passes away from a stroke at a community swimming pool, twin siblings must fulfill her final wishes outlined in her will. To honor their immigrant mother’s legacy, they embark on a journey to her birthplace in a nameless Middle Eastern country, which reflects the struggles during the Lebanese Civil War.

The film poignantly weaves in flashbacks of their mother, Nawal Marwan. A Christian woman amidst the chaos, Nawal unexpectedly finds herself pregnant by a refugee, likely a Palestinian fleeing the horrors of war. Her brothers, enraged by this union, tragically kill her lover as they make an attempt to escape together. In a heartbreaking moment, she confides in her grandmother about her pregnancy, and they decide to keep it a secret to maintain their family’s honor. When the child is born, Nawal’s grandmother tattoos the infant’s heel as a mark and secretly gives him away. Upholding her promise, Nawal moves to Daresh, a fictional city, to pursue her education, only to face the ravages of civil unrest that force her to return in search of her lost son.

As Nawal sets out, she discovers that the orphanage where her son was housed has been destroyed by war. Desperate, she disguises herself as a Muslim to escape to a refugee camp. Unfortunately, the bus she boards is met with violence from armed groups, resulting in chaos and loss. Nawal manages to evade capture by revealing her cross, but it tragically costs the life of another mother’s child, leaving Nawal deeply disillusioned and driving her to join a radical faction.

Assuming the role of a French tutor, she gains access to a prominent Christian leader, with dire consequences: Nawal carries out an assassination that lands her in Kfar Ryat prison for 15 harrowing years. As prisoner number 72, she withstands relentless torment, earning the nickname “The Woman Who Sings.” However, her spirit is targeted by a torture specialist named Abou Tareq, who inflicts unimaginable pain upon her, resulting in the birth of twins during her imprisonment. A compassionate nurse secretly saves her babies and reunites them with Nawal upon her release. Eventually, Nawal immigrates to Canada with her twins.

After her death, her will compels her children, Simon and Jeanne, to seek out their estranged father and their missing brother. While Simon resists embarking on this quest, Jeanne perseveres, tracing her mother’s lost family and confronting the shame they associate with her mother’s past. Her search leads her to the prison where Nawal endured her agonizing captivity, where she discovers the devastating truth of her mother’s suffering and the identity of the nurse who helped during her birth.

In a heart-wrenching twist, Jeanne persuades Simon to join her. Together, they uncover that Nawal’s twin babies were named Janaan and Sarwan. Upon identifying their half-brother, Nihad of May, they learn of the warlord responsible for the destruction of their mother’s world. As they unfold this family saga, they discover that Nihad, fueled by the chaos of war, has also suffered and is now turned to the dark side, ultimately becoming a torturer in the very prison where his mother was held.

The siblings finally locate their half-brother, who had also moved to Canada, and they deliver poignant letters from their mother—one for him and one for their father. Hidden within this tragic tapestry is the haunting recognition that Nawal had once seen Nihad in her later years, a man with a tattooed heel. The shock of rediscovery leads to her stroke and death. With her wishes fulfilled, the twins honor her memory by placing an engraved headstone at her grave. This brings Nihad, now burdened with the realization of his actions, to visit her grave, reflecting on the intertwined fates of a family torn apart by war and bound by love.