Although it looks like war, a large Arab family gathers in a village situated near the Israeli-Lebanese border for the wedding of the eldest grandchild Abu Majda. For some time now, the heterogeneous interests of individual family members have been disrupting the family’s solidarity – especially the bride’s younger sister, who refuses to marry the man chosen for her. In the past, they had always listened to their patriarchs.
As a conflict between Israel and Lebanon looms, the members of an extended Palestinian family meet for the wedding of the patriarch’s oldest granddaughter. The festivities are ruined not only by air-raid sirens, but also by hints of discord among the wedding party. The time has passed when everyone observed the opinions and decisions of the recognized head of the family, the patriarch grandfather. The differences between his children (who still respect Muslim traditions) and their adult offspring (who observe traditions only as a formality) are beginning to show. The girls in particular are increasingly pushing for emancipation, which in Hajar leads to open rebellion. Hiam Abbass, an actress who has appeared in many important pictures, is intimately familiar with the environment depicted in her film. She succeeds not only in presenting living portraits of the various members of a Palestinian family, but also manages to masterfully pull their personal stories together. The film, which was shown at last year’s festival in Venice, also allows the audience feel what it’s like to live under the constant threat of war. The director plays the wife of the old patriarch.
88 min / Color, DCP
Director Hiam Abbass
/ Screenplay Hiam Abbass, Ala Hlehel
/ Dir. of Photography Antoine Heberlé
/ Music Loik Dury
/ Editor Guy Lecorne
/ Producer Nicolas Blanc, Arik Bernstein, David Silber, Ender Sevim, Faruk Özerten
/ Production AGAT Films & cie, Alma Films, Depo Film
/ Cast Hafsia Herzi, Hiam Abbass, Yussef Abu Warda
/ Contact Playtime
Hiam Abbass (b. 1960, Nazareth, Israel), an actress and director from a Palestinian Muslim family, has been living in Paris since the early 1990s. She has appeared in nearly 60 films directed by European, Asian and American directors, including Red Satin (Satin rouge, 2002), The Syrian Bride (Ha-kala ha-surit, 2004), Lemon Tree (Etz limon, 2008), The Limits of Control (2008), and Persécution (2009). She also acted as linguistic and acting advisor on Steven Spielberg’s Munich (2005). In 2012, she was a jury member for the main competition at Cannes. After previously directing two short films – Bread (Le pain, 2001) and The Eternal Dance (La danse éternelle, 2004) – she made her feature film debut with Inheritance (2012).
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