18th Arab Film Festival

Saturday, September 28 at 9:15pm

ABOUT THE FILM

A Palestinian school teacher struggles to reconcile his commitment to political resistance with emotionally supporting one of his students. When a student is killed by an Israeli settler, the teacher’s political life becomes intertwined with his role in the community. He reveals his past as well as stories of loss and heartache as he develops a romantic relationship with a volunteer NGO worker from the UK. Starring the inimitable Saleh Bakri, the film depicts a powerful story about how the Israeli occupation in the West Bank impacts the lives of individuals, specifically focusing on the threat of settler violence and the ongoing displacement and destruction of Palestinian land and homes.

FILMMAKER BIO

Farah Nabulsi is an Oscar-nominated and BAFTA award-winning Palestinian British filmmaker. She left the corporate world in 2016 to start working in the film industry, and her directorial debut, The Present, won over 40 International Film Festival Jury and Audience Awards. The Teacher is her first feature film.

PRESENTED BY MIZNA

Celebrating 25 years in 2024, Mizna is a critical platform for contemporary literature, film, art, and cultural production centering the work of Arab and Southwest Asian and North African artists. For more than twenty years, we have been creating a decolonized cultural space to reflect the expansiveness of our community and to foster exchange, examine ideas, and engage audiences in meaningful art.