Ajami

Jaffa’s Ajami neighborhood is a melting pot of cultures and conflicting views among Jews, Muslims and Christians. Back and forth in time, and through the eyes of various characters, we witness how impossible the situation actually is... Sensitive 13-year-old Nasri and his older brother Omar live in fear: their entire family is in danger after their uncle foolishly wounds a prominent clan member. Naive young Palestinian refugee Malek works illegally in Israel to help finance the surgery that will save his mother’s life. Affluent Palestinian Binj dreams of a bright future with his Jewish girlfriend. Jewish policeman Dando and his family are desperately searching for his missing younger brother, a soldier...

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Script: Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani

Cinematography: Boaz Yehonatan Yakov

Editing: Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani

Sound: Itay Elohav, Kai Tebbel

Music: Rabiah Buchari

Actors: Shahir Kabaha (Omar), Ibrahim Frege (Malek), Fouad Habash (Nasri), Youssef Sahwani (Abu Elias)

Production: Inosan Productions Ltd., Israel T. +97 2 3620 4535 F. +97 2 3620 5131 mosh@inosan.co.il www.inosan.co.il & Twenty Twenty Vision, Germany

Producers: Mosh Danon, Thanassis Karathanos

Art Direction: Yoav Sinai

Format: 35mm Color

Production Country: Israel-Germany

Production Year: 2009

Duration: 120

Distribution in Greece: Ama Films – Giorgos Stergiakis T. +30 210 3221925, F. +30 210 3214 998 amafilms@amafilms.gr www.amafilms.gr

Contact: The Match Factory, Germany T. +49 221 5397 09-0, F. +49 221 53 9709-10 info@matchfactory.de www.the-match-factory.com

Scandar Copti

Scandar Copti is a Palestinian filmmaker and visual artist from Yafa. Renowned for his unique approach to working with non-actors, he teaches this technique at NYU Abu Dhabi and internationally. His work draws on personal experiences and broader societal and political narratives, offering a nuanced perspective on the Palestinian minority in Israel. Copti’s debut feature film, Ajami, co-directed with Yaron Shani, received the Camera d’Or Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 82nd Academy Awards. He is also the recipient of the Sutherland Trophy.

Filmography

2003 The Truth (short, co-direction)
2009 Ajami (co-direction)
2024 Happy Holidays

Yaron Shani

He is an Israeli Jew, born in 1973. He graduated the Tel Aviv University Department of Film and Television with his thesis film Disphoria, a 40-minute drama, which won the Audience Award at the Babelsberg Int. Student FF. As the director of the Tel Aviv International Student FF in 2002, he met Scandar Copti.