A conversation with the Palestinian filmmaker Scandar Copti (“Ajami”). Copti’s new film “Happy Holidays” is currently having theatrical engagements in the U.S. including at Film Forum in NYC.

From the Film Movement website: While celebrating Purim at her university in Jerusalem, Fifi, a young Palestinian woman is hospitalized following a car accident. Though her injuries are minor, she fears her newfound freedom at school will now come under the scrutiny of her conservative parents. Meanwhile, back in Haifa, Fifi’s older brother Rami panics as he faces his own personal crisis – Shirley, his Jewish girlfriend, reveals she is pregnant and plans to carry the baby to term. Behind closed doors, the family’s deep financial troubles come into focus while Hanan, Fifi and Rami’s mother, plans her eldest daughter’s wedding. Led by an incredible cast of mostly non-professional actors, “Happy Holidays” is a dynamic, sociopolitical family saga which thoughtfully considers the myriad intricacies of Israeli Arab life. Directed by Oscar-nominated Palestinian filmmaker Scandar Copti (“Ajami”), the family’s stories and everyday anxieties weave together a collective portrait of a pressurized society, and “speak to a larger culture of silence, shame, social pressure and rampant prejudice” (Variety).

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