

A Palestinian school teacher struggles to reconcile his life-threatening commitment to political resistance with his emotional support for one of his students and the chance of a new romantic relationship with a British volunteer worker.
Acting
Saleh Bakri's face does what dialogue cannot.
Direction
Nabulsi turns checkpoints into psychological horror.
Cinematography
Claustrophobic interiors vs. vast, surveilled landscapes.

Director
Farah Nabulsi
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Nabulsi, a British-Palestinian filmmaker, shot in the West Bank during active military operations; several scenes were improvised around real checkpoint delays.
The film sparked debate in Palestinian cinema circles for centering a male protagonist's psychological journey rather than collective resistance—a choice some critics called 'humanization' and others called 'liberal individualism.'