• 77 Steps

    77 Steps

    The personal journey of the director who leaves her Arab-Muslim village and moves to Tel-Aviv. In an attempt to find an apartment in the city, she encounters discrimination and refusal by most landlords because of her Arab origins. She finally finds an apartment, and meets her neighbor – Jo... read more >>
  • Lady Kul el- Arab

    Lady Kul el- Arab

    Angelina/Duah, the first Druze woman to attempt significant steps in the Israeli fashion world, finds herself in the middle of a complicated conflict in which the tradition and values of her society clash with her bold efforts to choose her own way in life. Duah Fares, a young woman from the Druz... read more >>
  • Paradise Lost

    Paradise Lost

    Arab Israeli filmmaker Ibtisam Mara'ana grew up in Paradise (Fureidis in Arabic), a small fishing village overlooking the Mediterranean . One of few Arab villages remaining after the 1948 War, Paradise became culturally and politically isolated as Jewish settlements sprung up around it. Today, it... read more >>
  • Al-Jisr

    Al-Jisr

    Al Jisr is a moving account of the lives of the residents of Jisr E-Zarqa in their daily struggle against poverty and discrimination. The film centers on a group of young, single women, desperately trying to lead their village to a better life. Hampered by their own traditions, family hierarchy, and... read more >>
  • Badal

    Badal

    'A Badal deal marriage' usually means when a brother and sister from one family marry a sister and brother from another family - interlocking the two couples for ever. Divorce on the part of one couple will immediately lead to the divorce of the other part of the deal. This is common practice in Mu... read more >>
  • Three Times Divorced

    Three Times Divorced

    Khitam, A Gaza Band born Palestinian woman, was married off in an arranged match to an Israeli Arab, followed him to Israel and bore him six children. When her husband divorced her - in absentia – in the Sharia (Muslim) court he gained custody of the children and Khitam was left with nothing. She c... read more >>
  • Room In Tel - Aviv

    Room In Tel - Aviv

    Room In Tel - Aviv read more >>
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An interview with Ibtisam about feminism on Haaretz.

I was once ashamed of my mother's power

 

77 Steps

77 Steps
New Film: 77 Steps
77 Steps

77 Steps

The personal journey of the director who leaves her Arab-Muslim village and moves to Tel-Aviv. In an attempt to find an apartment in the city, she encounters discrimination and refusal by most landlords because of her Arab origins. She finally finds an apartment, and meets her neighbor – Jonathan, a Jewish-Canadian man who immigrated to Israel. A love story evolves.

Ibtisam and Jonathan meet as newcomers to Tel Aviv, both of them strangers in the city, far from the familiar and their families. They are both searching for a sense of belonging and home. Together they to try to create a new identity during times which Israel is increasingly racist and xenophobic. 

Ibtisam struggles with her Palestinian identity in the shadow of the 2009 Gaza war, Jonathan during this time grapples with his Jewish identity and Zionist dream. They do not relinquish their relationship, yet something has gone sour.

Jonathan‘s mother refuses to meet his girlfriend, Ibtisam, who doesn't fulfil her dream of a Jewish Bride. Ibtisam is also unable to reveal her relationship to her mother and keeps it a secret.

One day, Jonathan’s 90 year old grandfather comes from Canada on a nostalgic trip to Kibbutz Ein-Dor, which he helped found in 1948. He brings with him pain, loss, immense love and a great sense of humor. Ibtisam and Jonathan join him on his trip. It becomes an individual journey for each one of them – one that takes them backwards in time and forward into the unknown, to memories and dreams, Nakba and Independence,

Love and hate longing and loss. After this journey nothing can be the way it was before. There is no turning back.


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