From the booklet accompanying the film:

“During the months of my mother’s last illness, from which she did not recover, I housed her in my home so I could give her the respectful and loving kingdom she deserved. Her family and acquaintances surrounded her, young and old eagerly listened to her stories, shared their farewells and received her last blessing.

“For four months, a video camera that I placed in her room recorded these farewell meetings, eventually filling 25 video tapes. Many dozen hours of rare moments of song and story are recorded, bringing to the surface both extremely personal and also collective moments, accompanied by tears and laughter, pain, inclusion, joy and faith. These memories of the past are an integral part of her life and are meaningful as a rare document that conveys a message whose meaning, it seems, extends beyond the private and local context.

“I worked on the film ‘Mariam’ in the last year, in a video-art format, in collaboration with Yaela Zalait and Bilal Saad.

“Seven minutes selected from 25 videotapes, opening with the voice of my mother singing a defining song in her life, and her fingers plaiting her hair that did not turn white even in old age.

“In a morning conversation with my mother five years before her death, she recalled memories of childhood in the shadow of her stepmother, her marriage at the age of 10, her first pregnancy at the age of 13 and living in a patriarchal family. She raised seven sons and daughters in the shadow of a military regime and subsequently fled from her home in Al-Ayoun with her eldest son Walid, who was born in 1948. She never returned to her childhood village. There, she lost a home, a memory and a dream.

“Her hug became the most meaningful in the days of wanting. She never radiated anger or disappointment, and always believed in doing good and giving.

“From this place of acceptance, grew a family of transformative artists, with great, varied influence on fields of art and culture.

“May her memory be blessing.

“Saeed Abu Shakra”