Zozo

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User Ratings: 3,667

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Movie Info

A young boy faces challenges both funny and terrifying in this drama from writer and director Josef Fares. It's 1987, and Zozo (Imad Creidi) is a ten-year-old boy whose parents are struggling to flee Beirut as warfare in the streets accelerates. Zozo's grandparents have emigrated to Sweden, and his mother and father plan to follow as soon as their passports and exit visas are approved. On the day that their papers finally come through, Zozo's mother asks him to go outside and get something for her -- and just misses being killed by the shell that explodes into their home. With his parents dead and his older brother missing, Zozo sees little choice but to fetch his passport and airline ticket and make his way to the airport on foot. With his pet bird in tow and a young girl named Rita (Antoinette Turk) who is running away from home for company, Zozo sets out on the long walk that will be the first leg in his journey to a new home. In time, Zozo makes his way to Sweden, where he's taken in by his grandmother (Yasmine Awad) and grandfather (Elias Gergi). However, Zozo feels like a fish out of water in his unfamiliar surroundings, and the increasingly eccentric behavior of his grandparents does nothing to make him feel more comfortable in this strange land. Zozo was loosely inspired by the youthful experiences of Josef Fares, who himself emigrated to Sweden when he was ten. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating:

NR
Genre:

Art House & International, Drama
Directed By:

Josef Fares
In Theaters:

Sep 2, 2005 wide
On Disc/Streaming:

Sep 4, 2006
Runtime:

102 minutes

Cast

Imad Creidi
as Zozo

Antoinette Turk
as Rita

Elias Gergi
as Grandfather

Carmen Lebbos

Viktor Axelsson

Charbel Iskandar

Yasmine Awad
as Grandmother

Jad Stephan

View All

Critic Reviews for Zozo

All Critics (2) | Top Critics (1) | Fresh (2)

With its powerful tragic wallop and dreamlike journey through the war zone, the Lebanese-set section of the film feels rich enough to have sustained a feature on its own.

October 18, 2005

Leslie Felperin
Variety
Top Critic
A rare example of a coming-of-age picture that didn't irritate and bore me.

September 17, 2005

Jon Popick
Planet S Magazine

View All Critic Reviews (2)

Audience Reviews for Zozo

Feb 16, 2011

Zozo is a 2005 Swedish-Lebanese film about a Lebanese boy during the civil war, who gets separated from his family and ends up in Sweden living with his grandparents. Written and directed by Swedish-Lebanese director Josef Fares, the story was mostly inspired by his real life immigration to Sweden during the war. He even decided to cast his own relatives in this movie: Abdulahad Fares was Rita's dad and Fares Fares (Josefs brother) was the voice of the talking chicken. The film was Sweden's representative for Best Foreign film at the 78th Academy Awards and won The Nordic Council Film Prize in 2006. But, I'll have to admit that the beginning was too slow... after that picked up, but some of the dreaming sequences were a little bit confusing for an average viewer. At the end, I can say it was a good movie I enjoyed watching... bring us more Lebanese movies!

Panta O Super Reviewer
Apr 03, 2010

Zozo was a beautiful Swedish movie showing the world from a dreaming eleven year old Libanese boy's point of view. The realistic filming captured the emotions in an extraordinary way, and brought you closer to his mind and imagination. On the day they were leaving Libanon to go to Sweden to live with the Grandparents, a bomb fell on their house and killed all his family, he survived and hide from the soldiers.He was found and sent to his grandparents in Sweden, where he was not accepted by his classmates and rejected as a foreigner.It was well cast, and even being a sad story it had some funny parts. The grandfather played a great role and Zozo's character was amazing.

Daisy M Super Reviewer
Dec 19, 2009

Story of an Arabic boy moving from Lebanon to Sweden.

Wahida K Super Reviewer
Sep 11, 2006

i liked kopps a lot more but this is no comedy. zozo's story is fairly brutal and the cinematography is nicely done. haven't seen Jalla Jalla but Josef Fares has really impressed me so far.

steve c Super Reviewer