imageThe immigrant experience is a double-edged sword. The expectation that change will automatically lead to a better life when met with reality, is often a short sharp blow. The politics of human movement from developing to developed countries plays out in the public arena, but the narratives of the individuals attempting to find safer places to live do not. Amreeka is about leaving behind all that is familiar and trying to embrace a new country. Questioning whether it is better to be a visitor in someone else’s country than a prisoner in your own.
Set during America’s (and its allies) invasion of Iraq in 2003, Amreeka follows Muna (Nisreen Faour) and her teenage son Fadi (Melkar Muallem) as they travel from the West Bank to Illinois. You know from their first encounter with America, at arrival Customs, things just aren’t going to go smoothly for the sweetly optimistic mother and son pairing. The pair settle in with Muna sister’s family, Raghda (Hiam Abbass), Nabeel (Yusseff Abu-Warda) and their three daughters. The unsuspecting Muna and Fadi, who believe they have left their troubles behind in the Palestinian Territories, are confronted by an America full of distrust and ignorant of Middle Eastern politics and culture.
Set during America’s (and its allies) invasion of Iraq in 2003, Amreeka follows Muna (Nisreen Faour) and her teenage son Fadi (Melkar Muallem) as they travel from the West Bank to Illinois. You know from their first encounter with America, at arrival Customs, things just aren’t going to go smoothly for the sweetly optimistic mother and son pairing. The pair settle in with Muna sister’s family, Raghda (Hiam Abbass), Nabeel (Yusseff Abu-Warda) and their three daughters. The unsuspecting Muna and Fadi, who believe they have left their troubles behind in the Palestinian Territories, are confronted by an America full of distrust and ignorant of Middle Eastern politics and culture.
click here to read my full review at Trespass
