प्लॉट

Jamal, a young Palestinian-American, longs for his missing father on his 18th birthday. Trapped in the family convenience store, he must endure his overbearing uncle who carries a vital family secret.

Taita Samia, Jamal's kind-hearted grandmother, keeps the peace between her son Soheil and Jamal as tensions between the two rise. Soheil, overcome with memories of nostalgia for his native Palestine and the burden of a vital family secret, discovers that money is missing from the register. When Taita Samia leaves for the night, emotions boil over. Painted against a backdrop of exile and immigration, "El Mahal" is the story of the life of Palestinian-Americans.—Ziad Foty