AMREEKA (Sundance Film Festival (SFF) Park City, Utah USA 2009)

Ben Meyers’ rating: 4.6|5.0 Starsìììì

Amreeka—a very well-told tale of the difficulties of re-establishing oneself in a new country—establishes itself as an award-winning story on the difficulties of emigration and assimilation into new cultures. This completely deserves both time and money investment and becomes an excellent addition to the home video library.

Film Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia 

Storyline

A divorced, single parent Palestinian Christian woman who lived in Bethlehem and worked in West Bank Palestine. Muna Farah (Nisreen Faour), has been abandoned by her husband for another woman, wins an American Green Card through the lottery, and makes the decision to relocate her teen-age son, Fadi Farah (Melkar Muallem), to the USA. Muna is unable to get the same level of employment she enjoyed on the West Bank and settles for a position working in the fast food industry while living with her sister and brother-in-law. Tensions mount for this middle eastern family living in an American neighborhood after 9/11 and the story is off and running.

Additional Thanks

Best work for Director and Writer Cherien Dabis. Thank you to Executive Producers Cherien Dabis, Alicia Sams, and Greg Keever for making the film possible. Music Composer is Kareem Roustom. Additional casting includes: Salma Halaby (by Alia Shawkat), Nabeel Halaby, (by Yussuf Abu-Warda), Mr Novatski (by Joseph Ziegler), and Bank Employee (by Miriam Smith).

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

Yes. This movie promotes understanding of the difficulties of relocating to a foreign country. It serves as an ideal older child/adult share film for the rich after viewing discussion it provides. It may be good to have a short review of the plotline before viewing, review geography, and discuss what a green card is before viewing the film.

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers