The Present
Spring Grants 2019 - Production Stage
Farah Nabulsi / Short Narrative / Palestine, Qatar / 25 min / Original Language: Arabic, English / Interests: Drama
Synopsis
Yusef is a family man from the West Bank, battling enormous queues at dawn to get to work every day, exacerbated by severe back pain and surrounded by military checkpoints. On his day off, to celebrate his wedding anniversary with his wife Noor, he takes their daughter Yasmine on a trip to buy a surprise gift. The celebratory plan starts off well, but eventually, Yusef has to grapple between parenting and the humiliating realities of the checkpoints they become entangled with. Along the way, they meet many others enduring similar setbacks and daily indignities. Yusef overcomes the small but brutal realities, withstands the pain in his back and tries to motivate Yasmine to cultivate hope. However, by nightfall, as their patience shatters into fatigue and cold, the gift that was intended as a surprise is under threat of not making it home, and they find themselves in danger. Can Yusef suppress the mortification he endures and the debilitating pain in his back to overcome the limitations forced on them? Will little Yasmine succumb to the trauma of the degradation of her father or will her courage help them triumph in the face of barriers colluding to destroy their day?
Credits
- Director
- Farah Nabulsi
- Screenwriter
- Farah Nabulsi, Hind Shoufdani
- Producer
- Ossama Bawardi
About the Director
Farah Nabulsi is a Palestinian filmmaker and first-time director. She left the corporate world in 2015 to start working in the Palestinian film industry as a writer and producer of short fiction films, exploring Palestine related topics that matter to her. This includes 'Today They Took My Son', endorsed by renowned Director Ken Loach, screened at the United Nations and officially selected to top international film festivals. She co-wrote 'The Present' in 2018 and with a deep desire to pursue the art of film directing, she is currently in pre-production and fundraising to make this film a reality.
Contacts
-
Main Contact
Ossama Bawardi
- Company:
- Philistine Films
- Phone:
- +972584198080
- Email:
- ossama_b@hotmail.com