Wajib

According to Palestinian tradition, wedding invitations must be delivered personally to each guest who is invited. A father and son have taken on this task in this down-to-earth family drama about Palestinians in today's Israel.

Shadi, a Palestinian architect living in Italy, returns to his hometown of Nazareth to assist with his sister Amal's wedding. He joins his father in delivering wedding invitations in the family's old Volvo, confronting everything he dislikes about his former home: the strained relationship with his father, the conservative attitudes of the neighborhood, and the Israeli oppression of Palestine.

Wajib is grounded and understated in its visuals and dialogue, taking its time to explore Shadi's complex relationship with his father and the country he loves and hates. Annemarie Jacir's direction and work with the actors are impressive. Lead actors Mohammad and Saleh Bakri, real-life father and son, and the rest of the cast portray Shadi and his father as nuanced individuals.

«An eye-widening, culturally rich look at life inside a Palestinian family.»
– Thomas Nguyen, Little White Lies –

Red.

Director

Annemarie Jacir (b 1974) is a filmmaker born in Bethlehem, raised in Saudi Arabia, and educated in New York, and stands out today as one of Palestine's leading directors and a pioneer in Arab cinema. Jacir, who has been making films since 1998, achieved significant recognition with Salt of This Sea (2008), which was nominated for the Caméra d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival for best debut film. Wajib premiered at the film festival in Locarno in 2017.

This film is part of