ShareBack In February I tried in vein to see this movie at the Glasgow Film Festival but was unable due to it selling out very quickly. AJAMI is an movie set in the powderkeg we call Middle East, a region of the world the peace is so fragile that to put it bluntly you have more chance of getting blood from a stone than having ever lasting peace which is sad. The movie is set in the israeli city of Jaffa, a city where Muslims, Jews and christians live together with unease and all it takes is the smallest thing to kick off sometimes in tragic ending.
The movie was written and directed by Scandar Copti & Yaron Shani and what I like about this movie is its humanist approach. The backdrop of this movie is the real city of Jaffa (near Tel Aviv), the actors come from the streets that the movie is set not the acting schools. There was an basic script/story laid down but Copti & Shani got the actors to act on emotion, instinct live as you do in the neighbourhood for real giving the movie is true fictional edge.
Below is a wonderfull presented international (UK) trailer and you can see why the movie was nominated for this years oscars in the best Foreign movie category, intense, emotional, dramatic and beautifully shot. According to the production notes who is aiming for a July 9th release in UK & Ireland, but thats not confirmed.
Foreign/international movies are very good at the moment, more consistent than many mainstream hollywood movies and I cringe when I hear people say to me that these movies are poor and I ask why, their excuse was “it was in subtitles” to me thats just sheer laziness. Embrace movies I say! In the current climate there is actually more fantastic movies in the international & independent movie scene than the dribble that hollywood is punting out at the moment.
many thanks to Jon at Vertigo Films once again for sending this trailer.
offical synopsis:Jaffa’s Ajami neighbourhood is a melting pot of cultures and conflicting views among Jews, Muslims and Christians. The tragic fragility of human existence is experienced in the enclosed community of Ajami, where enemies must live as neighbours. No location better expresses the dramatic collision of the different worlds. Back and forth in time, and through the eyes of various characters, we witness how impossible the situation actually is…
Sketching a graphic diary, sensitive 13 – year – old Nasri depicts the tough daily reality around him in the enclosed community of Jaffa’s Ajami, where old age enemies must live as neighbours. When his uncle foolishly wounds a prominent clan member, Nasri’s entire family is the target for revenge. Omar, Nasri’s older brother, is determined to save his family, although he is distracted by his longing for the boss’ daughter Hadir. Omar contemplates committing a crime for the money that promises to solve all his family’s problems …
Malek, a Palestinian teenager from West Bank refugee camp, smuggles into Israel to find work to finance the surgery that will save his mother’s life. Through his job at Abu Elias’ restaurant, Malek is befriended by Binj and Omar, whose situation is more desperate than ever …
Binj comes from a Palestinian family in Jaffa, but he dreams of a future with his Jewish girlfriend. Binj is forced to see another side to his situation when his brother becomes a suspect in the murder of a Jew … As a Jewish police detective, Dando is part of the continuous struggle to protect his small country from the “Arab Enemy.” The loving father of a baby girl, his life has become complicated since his younger brother, a soldier, has gone missing …
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more about “New International Trailer for AJAMI“, posted with vodpod
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