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Rana's Wedding
Hany
Abu-Assad
Shooting on location in East Jerusalem, Ramallah and at checkpoints in-between, Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad (Ford Transit) sees the Palestinian-Israeli conflict through the eyes of a young woman who, with only ten hours to marry, must negotiate her way around roadblocks, soldiers, stonethrowers, overworked officials ... and into the heart of an elusive lover.
This timely feature that explores love among the ruins of an occupied territory was presented with the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival's 2003 Nestor Almendros Prize for courage in filmmaking.
According to Abu-Assad, "when the abnormalities of barriers and occupation become an everyday reality, normal things like love and marriage turn into fiction. This is life in Palestine right now. I wanted to challenge it through cinema."
Winner of the Best Actress award at the 2002 Marrakesh International Film Festival (for Clara Khoury's affecting performance), Rana's Wedding premiered during the 2002 International Critic's Week at Cannes and has been a festival favorite in Palm Springs, Montreal, Rio de Janeiro, Cairo and London.
Reviews
"Fascinating.
It gives a more complete visual picture...than
we ever see on the news."
- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"Among
the finest films made in the Middle East."
- Phil Hall, Film Threat
Related Links
Rana's
Wedding official website
"Paradise Now" - feature film by the same director