Synopsis & Film Details
Winner of the Jury Prize, Un Certain Regard, at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and also a Best Foreign Language Film nominee at the 2014 Academy Awards, “Omar” unfolds as a gripping thriller about betrayal—both suspected and real—in the Occupied Territories. The movie follows the story of Omar, a Palestinian baker by day who routinely evades surveillance bullets and climbs over the separation wall to visit his secret love, Nadia. By night, however, Omar acts as a freedom fighter alongside childhood friends Amjad and Tarek to strike at the Israeli military. After being arrested in the killing of an Israeli soldier and tricked into an admission of guilt by association, he agrees to work as an informant, which leads him into a game of cat-and-mouse with the military police. Unsure of who he can trust on either side, Omar’s feelings begin to mirror that of his country: deeply torn and conflicted. It soon becomes evident, though, that he survives for his love of Nadia. In Arabic and Hebrew, with English subtitles.
Director: Hany Abu-Assad
Palestine (2013) • 98 minutes • Not rated
SCREENING SPONSOR:
Kamal & Aimee Abu-Shamsieh
With short film: Green Acres
Director: James Beck • USA • 6 minutes
In the animated adventure “Green Acres,” a parched tortoise wanders through a vast desert desperately in search of water. He comes across an oasis only to find that trespassers are unwelcome. Somehow, he must slip past the wall of defenses to quench his thirst.