Directed by Eran Riklis | 2014 | Israel | Arabic/Hebrew w/English subtitles | Fiction | 105 mins
Sponsors: The Burlington-Bethlehem-Arad Sister City Program
Film Source: Strand Releasing
Preceded by a reception for Sister Miriam Ward at 5:00 pm in the Lake Lobby. Humus and baklava served. Cash bar.
This is arguably the most compelling film that Israeli director Eran Riklis (The Syrian Bride) has made in a long while. Based on two separate fictional autobiographies by acclaimed Palestinian writer Seyad Kashua, the film is “a sharply mounted drama about a young Arab who finds reasons to ‘pass’ as Jewish” (Godfrey Cheshire, RogerEbert.com). This moving, non-polemical, coming-of-age drama about the hurdles faced by an Arab boy living in a Jewish culture is not only a sharp representation of that particular conflict and region, but it also resonates universally – identity and assimilation being a major social struggle worldwide. There’s marvelous pacing in the film and the acting – especially of veteran actor Yael Abecassis – is impressive.