Alam

In a Palestinian city, Tamer and his Arab-Israeli friends lead the typical life of high school kids, until the arrival of the beautiful Maysaa’. To impress her, Tamer takes part in a mysterious “flag operation” on the eve of Israel’s Independence Day, which for the Palestinian people is a day of mourning commemorating the Nakba, the forced displacement in 1948 of over 700,000 Palestinians from the territories occupied by the Israelis.

A high school in Palestine. A Palestinian flag that is to wave on Israel’s Independence Day, which for the Palestinians is a day of mourning (the nakba). In his first feature-length film, Filas Khoury makes a film (shot in Tunisia for obvious reasons) that speaks of universal themes (love, friendship, the fight against injustice, the search for identity, generational conflicts) in a context in which young Palestinians are denied their right to self-affirmation by a tragedy that has lasted since 1948. Its power and originality lie in showing how the tragedy has become part of everyday life, and to bring to the screen (with great empathy, biting irony and a sense of paradox) a new generation ignored by the media, which proudly resists without ascribing to the logic of violence.

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT In this film I wish to give prominence to Palestinian youth, who have willingly and despite all, chosen to make their peaceful struggle against injustice their primary vocation. High school students with courageous souls have become a great source of inspiration to me since I began following and observing them in recent years. My aim in this film is to expose their struggle to define and reinvent themselves. I wish to show the world that a Palestinian teenager is no different from any other around the world, they have similar dreams and aspirations, and they seek to embark on new experiences, to find love and recognition while transforming into adults.