Wajib

Palestinian Shadi returns from Italy to Nazareth in order to help his father and sister with preparations for her wedding. The first task that father and son tackle is delivering the invitations – personally, as tradition demands – to dozens of relatives, friends and acquaintances who live all over the city. Using this premise, Annemarie Jacir (Salt of This Sea, When I Saw You) creates an irresistible road-movie in miniature.

A bumpy car ride through various neighbourhoods links an endless series of visits, varying from warm memories to obligatory calls. As the caffeine content rises in their blood, the gap between Abu Shadi and Shadi (played by Mohammad and Saleh Bakri, also father and son in real life) becomes increasingly clear. In conversations between the individualist Shadi and his father, who meticulously tunes his views to prevailing opinions, we get to know two people who scarcely understand each other’s worlds.

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