Omar
Part of Impact of Conflict, 2015
Omar
Director: Hany Abu-Assad, 2014, 98min
Hany Abu-Assad (Paradise Now) directs this action-packed Oscar®-nominated love story set against the backdrop of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Omar (Adam Bakri) is a charismatic young Palestinian living in the West Bank who routinely climbs over the towering Israeli security wall to visit his friends Tarek (Iyad Hoorani) and Amjad (Samer Bisharat), not to mention the beautiful Nadia (Leem Lubany). Less out of political conviction than as a way to regain some power in their powerless lives, Omar, Tarek and Amjad shoot and kill an Israeli soldier. Omar is arrested and tortured, tricked into an admission of guilt, and forced to work as an informant. So begins a dangerous game – who can he trust on either side? At once a tender love story and a cat-and-mouse thriller, Omar is a powerful tale about the moral choices being faced by both sides of a conflict that shows no signs of letting up.
