Fresh from its triumph at the London Film Festival where it won the prestigious Sutherland Trophy, Ajami is a powerful collaboration between a Palestinian and an Israeli director centering on the inhabitants of inner-city Jaffa, a melting pot of nationalities and simmering tension.
Omar and his younger brother Nasri live in fear for their family after their uncle shoots a member of a criminal gang running a protection racket in the area.
Meanwhile, Malek, a young Palestinian refugee works illegally in an upmarket restaurant hoping to pay off the costs of his mother’s bone marrow transplant whilst Israeli policeman, Dando is trying to overcome the disappearance of his brother whilst on military service.
Laden with awards and directed with considerable power, this is an engrossing drama of the highest quality.