Israel's submission to this year's Oscars: a searing directorial debut by Israeli and Palestinian co-directors whose location filming, use of nonprofessional actors and balanced perspective lend a palpable authenticity to a complex, cross-cultural drama.
The film is set in Jaffa's multi-ethnic Ajami neighborhood, home to Jews, Muslims and Christians. The repercussions of a revenge killing reveal the cultural and religious tensions simmering beneath the surface: two young brothers fear assassination after their uncle wounds a local criminal; a young Palestinian refugee works illegally in Israel to finance his mother’s surgery; an Israeli woman and her affluent Palestinian boyfriend dream of building a life together; and a Jewish cop is obsessed with finding his missing brother.