Falafel Cart

During a stormy night, an immigrant falafel vendor who lives in his cart in the middle of nowhere stumbles upon a mysterious flower. The extraordinary encounter sparks something within him and eventually makes him relive scenes from his past life.^[14]

The film was inspired by the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, highlighting the impact on people who are merely seeking a better life.^[5] The theme of the falafel, a typical food of the Levant, represents the notion of home and serves as a symbolic reminder that reconnects the main character with his far-away home.^[15] The project first came to life after Al-Wazzan started to experiment with a different form of animation that employed a combination of stop-motion, computer generated animation, claymation and traditional animation.^[16][17][18] The filmmaker single-handedly animated the entire film, built and painted hundreds of models, puppets and backgrounds in a span of three years in order to achieve a distinct world for the film.^[1]

Falafel Cart first premiered theatrically in Los Angeles, California on September 13, 2019.^[19] In 2021 ShortsTV obtained non exclusive distribution rights to the film for release on its live channels and streaming platforms.^[20] On September 11, 2021, the film screened at AMC Theatres in Burbank as part of the Burbank International Film Festival.^[20]

In 2014, A different concept version of Falafel Cart participated at the 67th Cannes Film Festival, was officially selected at the 11th Dubai International Film Festival and was Nominated at the Sharjah International Children's Film Festival in the UAE. This early version was then totally re-worked as a new project to become the final 2019 animated film.^{[36][37][38][39][40]}

The film received the following awards and nominations: