I quite liked this drama of a single mother and her teenage son who move from their native Palestine to a small town in Illinois. It was on my netflix list after a win at Cannes, and Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Award nominations, and director/writer Cherien Dabis, born in Omaha to a Palestinian father and Jordanian mother, was one of Variety's 10 directors to watch in 2009. Nisreen Faour is delightful as the mom Mouna, as is Melkar Muallem as her son Fadi (pronounced in his language fa-DEE, and by his clueless American teacher as fatty, much to the delight of the school bully). The one face I did know was Alia Shawkat (last blogged in The Oranges) as Fadi's cousin and American schoolmate.
When my cable was out for several days in late March I watched it on a DVD. You can buy it here or stream it on iTunes or amazon.
When my cable was out for several days in late March I watched it on a DVD. You can buy it here or stream it on iTunes or amazon.
Rotten Tomatoes critics come in at 87 and audiences at 75. Worth seeing some day.
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