The Teacher
Description
The destruction of a Palestinian home by Israeli edict and the murder of a youth at the hands of an Israeli settler set the stage for even more shocks to come in writer/director Farah Nabulsi’s assured feature debut. Saleh Bakri is Basem, an amiable educator who tries to steer the deceased boy’s younger brother Adam (Muhammad Abed Elrahman) from seeking revenge. At the same time, Basem ignores his own advice, maintaining ties with the resistance and involving himself in a hostage situation. He tries to keep his activities secret from Adam and his British girlfriend Lisa (Imogen Poots) but it becomes harder to maintain his silence when Israeli troops show up at his door. Inspired by a real incident and set in 2014, The Teacher is a shattering work that feels as current as today’s headlines, and a drama made more devastating by Bakri’s soulful performance.
Film Community Partner
Biographies
Palestinian British human rights advocate and filmmaker Farah Nabulsi took a circuitous route to her profession, working first as a stockbroker, then building a children-centered business that she ran for a decade, before turning to cinema in 2015. In 2016, she founded Native Liberty Productions with the aim of creating films to draw attention to conditions in Palestine. She made her directing debut with The Present (2020), which received a Best Live Action Short Oscar® nomination and a BAFTA for Best British Short Film.
