Completed - ARABIC, HEBREW - Drama, Social issues - 103 minutes
A newlywed Palestinian schoolteacher gives birth to her son in an Israeli prison where she fights to protect her child, survive and hope.
Year of production : 2015 Director(s) : Mai MASRI Writer(s) : Mai MASRI Cast : Maisa ABD ELHADI, Nadera OMRAN, Karim SALEH, Abir HADDAD, Rikan SAAD, Haifa AGHA, Raeda ADON, Khitam EDELBI Producer(s) : Mai MASRI (Nour Productions), Sabine SIDAWI (Orjouane Productions), Charlotte UZU (Les Films d'Ici)
Layal is a young schoolteacher who lives with her husband, Farid in the occupied West Bank town of Nablus. She is arrested at an Israeli checkpoint, Falsely accused, she is sentenced to 8 years of prison.Layal is transferred to a high security Israeli women’s prison where she encounters a terrifying world in which Palestinian political prisoners are incarcerated with Israeli criminal inmates. She discovers in prison that she is pregnant. The prison director, Ruti pressures Layal to abort the baby and spy on the Palestinian inmates. Traumatized and isolated, Layal hits rock bottom but with the support of the women around her she finds the strength to stand up for herself and fight to have her child.Layal goes into labour and is taken in chains to a military hospital where she gives birth to a baby boy she names Nour. As she struggles to raise her son behind bars, she manages to find a sense of hope and a meaning to her life.Prison conditions deteriorate and the Palestinian women decide to launch a major strike. Ruti warns Layal against joining the strike and threatens to take Nour away. Rihan, a Palestinian inmate, secretly working with the authorities, urges Layal to collaborate. Layal is terrified of losing her son but in a moment of truth overcomes her fear and joins the strike. Armed soldiers take her son from her. Layal must find the strength to fight for herself, her child, and the day they will be reunited.
Country(ies) : PALESTINE, LEBANON, FRANCE, JORDAN, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
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Toronto - TIFF 2015 Contemporary World CinemaBFI London FF 2015 First Feature CompetitionTallinn Black Nights IFF 2015 Panorama