US Premiere
ARABIAN SIGHTS
CIRCLE AWARD

The Teacher

FARAH NABULSI
UK, Palestine, Qatar, 2023
115 minutes, Color
Official website

In Person: Director Farah Nabulsi

The Teacher is set and was evocatively filmed in the Occupied West Bank. High school English teacher (and clandestine resistance activist) Basem (Saleh Bakri) is still wounded from a past family tragedy brought on by the occupation. He mentors one of his students, Adam, who endured his own loss due to settler violence, counseling him in order to avoid prison or death by the Israelis. Scenes of the characters experiencing their homes being raided and demolished, in courtrooms or at the checkpoints, are dramatically effective. A concurrent story follows an American couple's quest for the release of their Israeli soldier son, who is being held by the resistance in exchange for the freeing of imprisoned Palestinians. Although this superbly acted and well-written mixture of compassionate personal drama and gripping political thriller is set in 2014, the stark similarities make it impossible to not draw parallels to the current situation.—Cornelius Moore

In Arabic and English with English subtitles