Standing under the ornate fixtures of the spacious Castro Theatre movie hall, Palestinian filmmaker Najwa Najjar spoke with elegant, commanding grace. “The idea behind my movie title derives from an old Palestinian proverb: Every pomegranate has one seed that comes from heaven,” Najjar explained. Minutes later, her debut feature “Pomegranates and Myrrh” screened as the opening film for the 13th annual Arab Film Festival, bringing an rich tapestry of characters and the trials and tribulations of life in modern-day Palestine to the big screen with understated panache.

The plot centers on a young Palestinian couple and their extended families, creating complicated sketches of daily life amidst the sociopolitical problems that plague their surroundings. Israeli Defense Forces soldiers with rifles patrol the East Jerusalem separation wall checkpoint; age-old tensions rumble silently beneath the barren landscapes of Ramallah; families operate under strict codes of tradition. Kamar (Yasmine Elmasri) practices Palestinian folk dancing while her husband Zaid (Ashraf Farah) tends to his olive oil farm, and all seems tranquil until an Israeli family launches a mysterious raid on the farm one night, confiscating its treasures. Zaid is falsely accused of attacking an Israeli soldier and is taken prisoner; traumatized, Kamar seeks solace from her in-laws and an emotional boost from the local pub owner Umm Habib (Hiam Abbass), before beginning a complicated relationship with Kais (Ali Suliman), her new dance choreographer. In their conflicted world, interpersonal relationships become strained, uncertainties build on one another—yet hope never subsides.

Deftly balancing human drama with a social conscience, Najjar imbues her characters with an emotional depth that feels remarkably authentic. Although “Pomegranates and Myrrh” loses a dimension of focus as its plot takes on unexpected turns, what it does do is create a sensitive portrait of a culture whose members are often shackled by different forms of oppression. The film’s vision of Palestine as a community brimming with life is embodied by Najjar’s seasoned screenwriting and cinematographer Valentina Caniglia’s delicate framings of faces and cityscapes; each performance is first-rate, especially that of Abbass, whose charismatic screen presence allows her to shine even in a relatively low-key supporting role.

At a brisk running time of 95 minutes, Najwa Najjar’s “Pomegranates and Myrrh” is a well-paced and finely calibrated film that manages to capture the beauty and calamity of life in modern-day Palestine through strong depictions of its diverse community. Stay tuned for more coverage on the Arab Film Festival to come.

Image, Link Source: Arab Film Festival, www.aff.org/2009