Bar Bahar + Q&A director Maysaloun Hamoud
Three Palestinian women sharing an apartment in the vibrant heart of Tel Aviv find themselves doing the same balancing act between tradition and modernity, citizenship and culture, fealty and freedom.Arab Israeli women live in a country that considers them not quite Israeli enough, and are part of a culture that views them as not quite Palestinian enough. Layered onto their citizenship conundrum are the inevitable gendered tensions between contemporary and traditional family life. Director Maysaloun Hamoud tells the story of three such women in her remarkable feature film debut BAR BAHAR.
Lalia, Salma and Nur share an apartment in the vibrant heart of Tel Aviv. Lalia, a criminal lawyer with a wicked wit, loves to burn off her workday stress in the underground club scene. Salma, slightly more subdued, is a DJ and bartender. Nur is a younger, religious Muslim girl who moves into the apartment in order to study at the university.
BAR BAHAR is a story of a certain kind of female friendship, a fierce bond that comes about because of shared gender, background, and hopes. The final shot of Hamoud’s engaging and compelling film says everything about these unforgettable women.