Alam

Tamer (Mahmood Bakri), a handsome Palestinian teenager, is smitten by Maysaa’, the beautiful and outspoken new girl at school. Prior to meeting Maysaa’, Tamer spent time with his buddies Rida and Shekel talking about girls, listening to music and trying to score some weed. But desire and infatuation make Tamer follow Maysaa’ to a protest against the occupation. His political classmate Safwat urges Tamer to join them at a demonstration in former Palestinian villages, but his parents just want him to study for his exams. When Safwat schemes to replace the school’s Israeli flag with a Palestinian flag on the eve of Israeli Independence Day, Tamer finds himself faced with a choice. Director Firas Khoury’s outstanding script organically shows how Tamer’s eyes are simultaneously opened by love and by his political awakening. This coming-of-age drama subtly explores the irony for Palestinian Israelis of the school curriculum, the angst of adolescence, and the complexity of mourning the displacement of Arabs that Palestinians call the Nakba while Israel celebrates its independence. Like all great coming-of-age films, the adults are in the background and the focus is on the teenagers as they seek their moral true north. Winner of the Best Film, Best Actor and the Audience Award at the Cairo Film Festival.

Bay Area Premiere