A Borrowed Identity

In this self-assured and accomplished film, celebrated filmmaker Eran Riklis adapts Sayed Kashua’s popular semi-autobiographical novel Dancing Arabs for the screen, fashioning an accessible coming-of-age story in an Israel resonant with contemporary cultural unrest. Young Eyad finds himself to be hopelessly provincial upon arrival at the most prestigious boarding school in Jerusalem, in large part due to the fact that he is the first Arab student to be admitted to the institution. Swapping out his ‘b’s for ‘p’s in pronunciation and reversing the position of knives and forks at the dinner table, he learns the small yet crucial ways to assimilate himself into an antagonistic culture. With the assistance of his adopted tribe—his loyal best friend and secret Jewish girlfriend—he distinguishes himself in the classroom, bringing his unique cultural perspective to daily lessons and finding unlikely allies in the process. —Leah LoSchiavo