Summary
CD: I knew that I was dealing with potentially heavy material and the last thing I wanted was to be didactic. On the contrary, I wanted it to tell an authentic human story that was relatable, appealing and entertaining. In order to accomplish that, I chose to tell the story through the eyes of a woman who believes that people are inherently good and trustworthy. [Muna] is somewhat of an unexpected character -- a Palestinian single mom who has every reason to be cynical but is instead filled with nave hope. It's, in large part, her point of view that lends itself to the humour in the script. She's disarming to the point where even if people want to find her suspicious, they have a hard time. And if they do, it's laughable because we, the audience, know how absolutely harmless she is.
CD: Our reviews have been stellar and our opening weekend was fantastic. We're in our eighth week in theatres all over the U.S. and have bookings all the way through the end of December. Audience members walk out of the theatre and say things like: "Anyone who comes from a family can relate to this film." Or: "Anyone who's ever felt like an outsider can relate." So it's been remarkably encouraging.CD: It premiered at the Al-Kasaba Film Festival in Ramallah earlier this month where the reception was really emotional and extremely warm. We got a 15-minute standing ovation! It also went on to play at the Beirut International Film Festival where we won the audience award for Best Feature Film and Best Director. So it's been incredible thus far. We're currently out in theatres in the West Bank and Lebanon. We'll soon be screening at the Cairo International Film Festival then releasing in Egypt. And the Dubai International Film Festival premiere will precede our Gulf release in December. So my fingers are crossed that the terrific response continues!See the full content of this document
Extract
Prejudice Close to Home for Amreeka Director
For her feature debut Amreeka, writer-director Cherian Dabis filmed well away from her birthplace in Omaha, Neb.. But the movie's portrayal of prejudice towards Arabs was close to home for the 33-year-old, whose previous writing credits include episodes for The L Word.
The story of Muna (Nisreen...See the full content of this document
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