24 November 2009
Life on the West Bank for irrepressible Muna (Nisreen Faour) is one, long grind.
It takes two hours through often dangerous checkpoints to get to her dead-end bank job. Her husband has left her. The only high point in her life is her teenage son.
A long awaited green card for “Amreeka” arrives to deliver them to the land of milk and honey. But life in small-town Illinois post the Iraqi Invasion is a lot more difficult than they expected.
Somehow, despite all the setbacks and the racism, Muna’s sweet nature and resilience shines through and by the end of the film we are cheering Muna and her son on as they overcome each adversity.
With fine support from experienced Palestine actress Hiam Abbas (The Lemon Tree, The Visitor) and other able actors, one can see why L Word writer/director Cherien Dabis won the Critics Award at Cannes. A gem.
4 stars
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