AMIRA
In this charged drama of identity and belonging, a Palestinian girl’s world is turned upside down when she learns the man she grew up idolizing is not her real father.
17-year-old Amira (Tara Abboud) has only seen her father Nuwar (Ali Suliman) through the glass wall of a visiting cell at the Israeli prison where he has been incarcerated since before she was born. Proud to be the daughter of a man she considers a political prisoner and a hero to her Palestinian neighborhood, Amira adores her father with a fierce zeal. When an attempt to have a second child—conceived, like Amira, with sperm smuggled out of the prison—reveals that Nuwar is sterile and always has been, Amira’s world of unflappable devotion and fervently held beliefs collapses. As her family and community react with suspicion and disbelief, the teenager, angry and feeling betrayed, doggedly sets out to uncover the truth, no matter where it might lead her. Inspired by true stories of children conceived in secret by Palestinian prisoners in Israel, Egypt’s Mohamed Diab (who is currently working on a Marvel miniseries starring Oscar Isaac) has crafted a family drama more gripping than any political thriller. Newcomer Abboud commands every scene she’s in, bringing a fiery intensity to her performance as a young woman forced to reconsider her place in a world divided by blood and borders.
CAST: Saba Mubarak, Tara Abboud, Ali Suleiman, Ziad Bakri
In Competition: Narrative Feature
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