The Reports on Sarah and Saleem
Directed by Muayad Alayan
Palestine | 2018 | Fiction | 127 min
Arabic, Hebrew, English w/ English subtitles
Film Source: Dada Films
Awards/premier festivals: International Film Festival Rotterdam - Special Jury Award for exceptional artistic achievement; Hubert Bals Fund Audience Prize; Seattle International Film Festival - Grand Jury Prize; and many others
Sponsors: Burlington-Bethlehem-Arad Sister City Program
Also showing:
Sun, Oct 27 | 3:45PM | BB
In many countries, an affair between a married woman and a married man would be just that: an affair. When the woman is Jewish Israeli and the man is Muslim Palestinian, it cannot be that simple. When Sarah and Saleem are spotted in the wrong place at the wrong time, the affair naturally takes on a political dimension, leaving them to deal with more than just broken marriages. Director Muayad Alayan picks up on the nuanced engagement with Palestinian–Israeli tensions of his first feature, Love, Theft, and Other Entanglements, and gradually unravels them through the vehicle of a psychosocial drama-thriller with many surprises along the way. The non-linear structure emphasizes the complexity of the narrative as it impacts both their families in personal and political ways. A richly detailed Jerusalem and neighboring Bethlehem serve as both background and center players. ~OY
Quote from the film’s press kit – Muayad Alayan statement: “I have always been touched and moved by cinema with characters that find themselves in situations bigger than themselves — situations that challenges the average person, who is often an anti-hero, to survive and find comfort and safety amidst life’s absurdity […] I was a teenager during the years of the second Palestinian uprising, the Intifada. Jerusalem was haunted with fear and tension. As dark as these days were, everyone had to go on living, breathing, securing an income and searching for happiness. At the time I had to take jobs in the western part of the city, like most Palestinians from East Jerusalem. In most cases, this would be the first encounter for a Palestinian with the Israeli community, beyond the usual daily encounters with Israeli soldiers. This experience allowed me to witness the everyday interactions of Palestinians with the Israeli community. To witness was also to experience first hand how, amidst the intense political atmosphere, some rare moments of ease could let you forget the social and political barriers set between you and the other. I also witnessed how the politics and social divisions found their way into human interactions when least expected and suddenly, the barriers were back in place in a heartbeat.”