Omar

Director: Hany Abu-Assad
Palestine | Arabic, Hebrew
Sunday, Nov 2 TIPA, 6:15 PM

Omar climbs over a separation wall and through bullets for Nadia’s love. He is a thoughtful boy and a focused baker. He lands on the other side a resistance fighter who faces choices about how to be a man. The occupied West Bank knows neither simple love nor clear war. Who’s an enemy depends on circumstance. Friends are captured, tortured and given the choice between life and loyalty. Suspicion and betrayal blot out trust. Absurd humiliations distort confidence and honor. Like the characters, enduring traditions also have no home. The youthful wills in Omar and in Tareq, Nadia’s militant brother, are both fighting for different freedoms – for self and for the people. Omar’s inner geography becomes as torn apart as the Palestinian landscape. We’re left to wonder the impact of the choices we make when all our reference points have been destroyed.

Hany Abu-Assad

Hany Abu-Assad was born in Nazareth, Palestine in 1961. After having studied and worked as an airplane engineer in The Netherlands for several years, Abu-Assad entered the world of cinema as a producer and produced the feature film Curfew, directed by Rashid Masharawi, in 1994. In 1998 he directed his first film, The 14th Chick, from a script by writer Arnon Grunberg, followed by his documentary Nazareth 2000. In 2006 his film Paradise Now was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The film won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign language film in 2006.

Credits

Director: Hany Abu-Assad
Producer: Hany Abu-Assad, Waleed F. Zuaiter & David Gerson
Screenplay: Hany Abu-Assad
Co-Editors: Martin Brinkler A.C.E & Eyas Salman
Sound: Hamada Attalah
Production Company: ZBROS

Festival Appearances & Awards

Jury Prize (Un Certain Regard),
Cannes 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, 2013
Dubai International Film Festival, 2013
Midnight Sun International Film Festival, 2014