Omar

by Hany Abu-Assad

Omar

Synopsis

Omar climbs over a separation wall and through bullets for Nadia's love. He is a thoughtful boy and a focused baker. He lands on the other side a resistance fighter who faces choices about how to be a man. The occupied West Bank knows neither simple love nor clear war. Who's an enemy depends on circumstance. Friends are captured, tortured and given the choice between life and loyalty. Suspicion and betrayal blot out trust. Absurd humiliations distort confidence and honor. Like the characters, enduring traditions also have no home. The youthful wills in Omar and in Tareq, Nadia's militant brother, are both fighting for different freedoms - for self and for the people. Omar's inner geography becomes as torn apart as the Palestinian landscape. Tareq fights on all fronts to protect his sister, tradition, his country and his friends. The brutal and beautiful uncertainty of the human condition is as much the hero of the film as Omar. We're left to wonder the impact of the choices we make when all our reference points have been destroyed.

Director

Hany Abu-Assad was born in Nazareth, Palestine in 1961. Af- ter having studied and worked as an airplane engineer in The Netherlands for several years, Abu-Assad entered the world of cinema as a producer and produced the feature film Curfew, directed by Rashid Masharawi, in 1994.

In 1998 he directed his first film, THE FOURTEENTH CHICK, from a script by writer Arnon Grunberg, followed by his documentary NAzARETH 2000, his second feature film RANA’S WEDDING and his second documentary FORD TRANSIT.

In 2006 his film PARADISE NOW about two Palestinian men preparing for a suicide attack in Tel Aviv, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The film won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign language film in 2006.

In 2011 Abu-Assad finished working on THE COURIER, a Hol- lywood movie starring Jeffery Dean Morgan, Til Schweiger and Mickey Rourke.

FEATURE FILMOGRAPHY

2013 OMAR
2011 THE COURIER
2005 PARADISE NOW
2002 FORD TRANSIT (documentary)
2002 RANA'S WEDDING
2000 NAZARETH 2000 (documentary)
1998 THE 14TH CHICK


Cast

Adam Bakri
Samer Bishara
Eyad Hourani
Leem Lubani
Waleed Zuaiter

Crew

Written, directed & produced by Hany Abu-Assad
Director of Photography Ehab Assal
Co-Editors Martin Brinkler A.C.E. & Eyas Salman
Production Design Nael Kanj
Sound Hamada Attalah
Casting Juna Sulieman
Key Hair & Makeup Dorte Dobkowitz
1st Assistant Director Enas Al-Muthaffar
Line Producer Baher Agbariya
Co-Producers/In Association with Dubai Entertainment and Media Organisation Enjaaz A Dubai Film Market Initiative
Executive Producers Abbas F. "Eddy" Zuaiter, Ahmad F. Zuaiter, Waleed Al-Ghafari, Zahi Khouri, Dr. Farouq A. Zuaiter, Suhail A. Sikhtian
Produced by Waleed F. Zuaiter & David Gerson
Production Company ZBROS

Technical Data

Format: DCP / Alexa HD 1920x1080 / 1:2.39 / Dolby Digital SRD 5.1
Length: 97 min
Language: Arabic, Hebrew

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Omar
Omar

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