Stabat Mater

2014· Drama

Maya, choreographer at a Jerusalem dance troupe, is married to Yoav, a senior official at the Ministry of Justice, an impressive and charming man. Being a pair of career driven parents with 2 demanding children, each day requires planning and juggling, a great deal of hubbub. One evening, Maya spots a figure from her past. She hurries away, but has a panic attack. She does not say a word to anyone, but it won't let go, and she cannot sleep or go back to her routine. Yoav notices his wife's distress, and realizes that she's hiding something. Their relationship is on the verge of crisis. Nadia Kabir is a 17 year old Arab girl who has just graduated from the Jewish-Arab girls' school in Jerusalem. She is having a secret affair with Nimer, an activist in a Palestinian Liberation Movement. When Nimer is sent to Hamburg on assignment, they are secretly married. In Hamburg, Nadia realizes the meaning of the step she has taken - severing her ties with her family and beloved mother, as she embraces a life of exile and escape. When Nimer is caught by the authorities, Nadia is left to her own devices. She realizes that there is no option of returning to Israel, to her family: the authorities see her as a terrorist, and to her family she has escaped and disgraced them. The connection between the two heroines - Maya and Nadia - is the core of the film. This connection has a tremendous effect on everyone; it will drop a bombshell on Maya's family, and leave Nadia's mother in distress and grief. This connection raises questions of identity, of the ability of society to accept the Other and forgive their Otherness. It's a story about innocent individuals who pay a terrible price, the victims of a society that has gone awry, raising the question of when the private becomes political and the political becomes private, without the ability to separate the two.

Cast: Ali Suliman, Ruba Blal, Oded Leopold, Netta Shpigelman

Director: Tova Asher