'The Reports on Sarah and Saleem': Palestinian film wins in Rotterdam Film Festival

Palestine

Published: 2018-02-05 19:13

Last Updated: 2024-03-26 15:50


Editor: Randa Darwish

Footage from The Reports on Sarah and Saleem film.
Footage from The Reports on Sarah and Saleem film.

‘The Reports on Sarah and Saleem’ Palestinian film was granted two of the 2018 awards at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) 2018.

The Palestinian feature film won the Hubert Bals Fund audience award and the special jury award that worth $10,000.

From January 24 to February 4, it was premiered at the IFFR. The film for its Palestinian director Muayad Alayan and written by his brother Rami Alayan, tells the story of an affair between a married Palestinian man and an Israeli woman.

It starts with Saleem, the Palestinian delivery driver and Sarah, the Israeli café owner who are having an affair in Jerusalem although they both live on total opposite sides, geographically, politically and religiously. The couple are caught in the wrong place and time giving the story a political angle related to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

While both Sarah and Saleem are trying their best to maintain stable home lives; Sarah with her husband, the moody IDF officer, David, and Saleem with his pregnant wife, Bisan, everything changes when they were caught, when Sarah will need to decide whether she will be loyal to her husband and country or to her lover who has inadvertently become a political prisoner.

The main cast of the film included Adeeb Safadi, Maisa Abd Elhadi, Kamel El Basha and the Israeli cast Sivan Kerchner and Ishai Golan.

Here is the trailer of the film:

Murad Alayan is a Palestinian director who studied filmmaking in San Francisco before he returned to his home to launch filming projects about and by Palestinians and their struggles.

All Alyan’s movies were written by his brother, Rami Alayan. The pair have produced, written and directed six films, and they were nominated for many important festivals such as the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) and Berlin International Film Festival.

The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is one of the largest audience base and industry-driven festivals in the world. It supports and encourages young talents in filmmaking field for fiction and documentary movies whether it is featured, short films and media arts.