This week, BUFS and the Zonta Club of St. Catharines are proud to present Amreeka, a dramedy about Palestinian immigrants trying to make their way in America in a time of hostility. Cherien Dabis' (The L-Word) feature debut is a critical darling—indeed, the film has already won awards in Cannes, Cairo and Dubai and is nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Feature.
The story begins in the West Bank, where divorced banker Muna Farah (Nisreen Faour) and her teenaged son, Fadi (Melkar Muallem), decide that their prospects will be better in America. Stateside, they'll stay with Muna's sister Raghda (Hiam Abbass), who has lived in suburban Chicago for several years with her doctor husband and their three girls.
But this is 2003. As the second Iraq war grows more intense, Muna's brother-in-law suddenly finds that he is losing patients to anti-Arab sentiment. Muna is a well-educated, skilled worker, but the only job she can get in Illinois is at a fast-food joint. At school, Fadi quickly becomes the target of classmates who are being all but instructed to suspect anyone from the Middle East.
If you're guessing that the family pulls together and finds a way to cope and maybe even triumph, with a few good laughs along the way, you're making a good guess. But this fairly predictable story manages to overcome its predictability with glowing performances, a frank, unsentimental depiction of xenophobia, and a startling ability to warm your heart.
