Film: Wedding in Galilee / Urs al-Jalil (Emergence: A Brief Introduction to Palestinian Cinema) September 27, 2006

Wedding in Galilee

WEDDING IN GALILEE / URS AL-JALIL
Series: Emergence: A Brief Introduction to Palestinian Cinema
Director: Michel Khleifi, Release: 1987, Runtime: 113

Palestinian cinema could be said to have first arrived on the world stage with Michel Khleifi's powerful first feature, winner of the Grand Prize at San Sebastian and the International rCitics' Prize at Cannes among a host of other international awards. Abu Adel, the patriarch of a large Arab family, asks the Israeli military authorities to lift the curfew in their village so that Abu Adel's son can get married. At first hesitant to agree, the Israeli governor eventually decides that the wedding can take place — if he and members of his military staff are also invited to attend. Abu Adel agrees, and thus sets the stage for a simmering confrontation in which not only the tensions between Israelis and Palestinians but also those within each group will rise to the surface. Trained as a documentary filmmaker, Khleifi is far more intent on observing the shifting attitudes and behavior of his characters than in scoring political points. The result is a work of impressive depth and subtlety whose account of the complexity of the Israeli/Palestinian stand-off continues to ring true today.

Co-production: Israel/Palestine/France/ Belgium

Official Website: http://www.filmlinc.com/wrt/onsale/emergence/weddingingalilee_ursal_jalil.html