Nothing like a little controversary to set people off! That’s what Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Diab accomplished with his film, Amira, which will be available on DVD in the domestic marketplace on Sept. 06 through the joint efforts of France’s premiere film production and distribution company, Distrib Films, and Icarus Films.
Before we get to the nuts and bolts of the film’s content, and why it has stirred such passions, let’s first look at its distribution history.
Writer/director Mohamed Diab is probably best known to domestic audiences for his lead direction on the Marvel mini-series, Moon Knight, a supernatural tale involving Egyptian mythology. While that is a nice calling card, it is his film festival wins as both a writer and director that has garnered him international attention (Cairo 678, Clash, etc.).
With this in mind, Amira opened at the Venice Film Festival in September of last year and proceeded to work the film festival circuit through May of this year. Along the way, it captured a number of directing, acting and film awards, and was even placed in the running for Best Foreign Language Oscar consideration.
Then the controversary started, critics and web sites were flooded with countless negative trolls and their comments. Oscar consideration was withdrawn as result of the negative “backlash” against the film.
The story centers around the title character, Amira (Tara Abboud in her film debut), who is the daughter of a Palestinian “terrorist” by the name of Nuwar (Ali Suliman — 200 Meters, The Last Friday, The Attack), who is serving a life sentence in Israel’s Megiddo Prison. It seems that he froze his sperm and had it smuggled out … Amira is something of a miracle baby.
Amira is bright, has a talent for photography and idolizes her father. And then her world is turned upside down. A real gut-punch, when her mother, Warda (Saba Mubarak — Daughters of Abdul-Rahman), who wants to get pregnant again and discovers that Nuwar is, and always has been, infertile.
To compound the problem, Warda is now considered “unfaithful” and put under something of a house-arrest while the family decides what her fate will be. But as for Amria, she’s been cut adrift with so many unanswered questions … her “identity” has been shattered! Where is the empathy for her?
Icarus Films will be providing the opportunity to see writer/director Mohamed Diab’s Amira on DVD this coming Sept. 6. Place it on your calendar, the film works as both a personal drama and a statement on the politics of the ongoing Palestinian/Israeli conflict. Amira is presented in Arabic (with Hebrew) and with English subtitles.
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