A young Palestinian freedom fighter agrees to work as an informant after he's tricked into an admission of guilt by association in the wake of an Israeli soldier's killing.
In the Ottoman province of Hijaz during World War I, a young Bedouin boy experiences a greatly hastened coming-of-age as he embarks on a perilous desert journey to guide a British officer to his secret destination.
About a Palestinian girl of 17 who wants to get married to the man of her own choosing. Rana wakes up one morning to an ultimatum delivered by her father: she must either choose a husband ... See full summary »
Director:
Hany Abu-Assad
Stars:
Clara Khoury,
Khalifa Natour,
Ismael Dabbag
After an emotional exchange between a Lebanese Christian and a Palestinian refugee escalates, the men end up in a court case that gets national attention.
Director:
Ziad Doueiri
Stars:
Adel Karam,
Kamel El Basha,
Camille Salameh
An enterprising Saudi girl signs on for her school's Koran recitation competition as a way to raise the remaining funds she needs in order to buy the green bicycle that has captured her interest.
Director:
Haifaa Al-Mansour
Stars:
Waad Mohammed,
Reem Abdullah,
Abdullrahman Al Gohani
In April, 1975, civil war breaks out; Beirut is partitioned along a Moslem-Christian line. Tarek is in high school, making Super 8 movies with his friend, Omar. At first the war is a lark: ... See full summary »
The story of a Palestinian widow who must defend her lemontree field when a new Israeli Defense Minister moves next to her and threatens to have her lemon grove torn down.
Director:
Eran Riklis
Stars:
Hiam Abbass,
Rona Lipaz-Michael,
Ali Suliman
A young Palestinian freedom fighter agrees to work as an informant after he's tricked into an admission of guilt by association in the wake of an Israeli soldier's killing.
Hany Abu-Assad claimed to have written the structure of the film in just one night. Actually writing the screenplay took 4 days. See more »
Goofs
[All goofs for this title are spoilers.]
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Quotes
Tarek:
Omar, there's a price to pay if you want to revolt and liberate your country. You don't complain or cry. This is the choice you made.
See more »
Crazy Credits
The credits roll in complete silence without any music. See more »
If the saga of Omar were a wine, it would have to be described as "Shakespearian, with notes of Dante, Orwell, Golding, and Sartre." Omar is a basically decent, seemingly uncomplicated young bakery worker who is inexorably drawn into the violent political warfare of the West Bank through his love for a girl, his increasingly radicalized circle of friends from childhood, and Israeli injustice. Right up to its unexpected, yet expectable, ending Omar is more victim than protagonist.
Clearly anti-Israeli in tone, the film explores the many reasons why Palestinians maintain an abiding antagonism toward Israel and Israelis. A driving metaphor in the film is the 25 foot high wall that Omar scales regularly to visit Nadia, his intended. Although The Wall was ostensibly designed to separate the Jewish West Bank settlements from Palestinians, it even more effectively separates Palestinian towns, families, and friends from one another--and from their water supplies in many places. To visit a neighboring town along is course has often become virtually impossible for having to detour long distances around the wall's tortuous path and passing through multiple checkpoints. Similarly, the Israeli military and police strive to divide and isolate individuals and groups psychologically just as the wall does physically. It's a classic use of divide-and-conquer strategy, which is one of the film's principal plot threads. Whatever your views of the Israel-Palestine situation, this thoroughly absorbing film will challenge them.
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If the saga of Omar were a wine, it would have to be described as "Shakespearian, with notes of Dante, Orwell, Golding, and Sartre." Omar is a basically decent, seemingly uncomplicated young bakery worker who is inexorably drawn into the violent political warfare of the West Bank through his love for a girl, his increasingly radicalized circle of friends from childhood, and Israeli injustice. Right up to its unexpected, yet expectable, ending Omar is more victim than protagonist.
Clearly anti-Israeli in tone, the film explores the many reasons why Palestinians maintain an abiding antagonism toward Israel and Israelis. A driving metaphor in the film is the 25 foot high wall that Omar scales regularly to visit Nadia, his intended. Although The Wall was ostensibly designed to separate the Jewish West Bank settlements from Palestinians, it even more effectively separates Palestinian towns, families, and friends from one another--and from their water supplies in many places. To visit a neighboring town along is course has often become virtually impossible for having to detour long distances around the wall's tortuous path and passing through multiple checkpoints. Similarly, the Israeli military and police strive to divide and isolate individuals and groups psychologically just as the wall does physically. It's a classic use of divide-and-conquer strategy, which is one of the film's principal plot threads. Whatever your views of the Israel-Palestine situation, this thoroughly absorbing film will challenge them.