Feature, Drama | 103 min | Palestine, France, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, United Arab Emirates
Director : Mai Masri
Cast : Maisa Abd Elhadi, Nadera Omran, Rakeen Saad
SYNOPSIS :
Layal, a young newlywed Palestinian schoolteacher is arrested after being falsely accused and sentenced to 8 years of prison. She 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.When she discovers she is pregnant, the prison director pressures her to abort the baby and spy on the Palestinian inmates. However, resilient and still in chains, she gives birth to a baby boy. Through her struggle to raise her son behind bars, and her relationship with the other prisoners, she manages to find a sense of hope and a meaning to her life. Prison conditions deteriorate and the Palestinian prisoners decide to strike. The prison director warns her against joining the rebellion and threatens to take her son away. In a moment of truth, Layal is forced to make a choice that will forever change her life.
About the Director:
Mai Masri is a Palestinian filmmaker who was born in Jordan, raised in Beirut, Lebanon and studied film at UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University. She has directed and produced award winning films that have been broadcast on more than 100 television stations worldwide . Her films have received over 60 international awards including the Luchino Visconti Award in Italy 2003, the Asia Pacific Screen Award in Australia 2007, and the Mipdoc Trailblazer award in Cannes, 2011.
