Wajib

Shadi is an architect who has lived in Italy for years. He returns to Nazareth for his sister's wedding. He has an obligation: by Palestinian custom the invitations are delivered by hand, and he must do it with his father. The two get in the car and go door to door all day. At every visit there is tea and enquiries after health, and the distance between father and son opens a little further. Shadi does not understand the compromises his father makes; his father does not forgive him for having left. Annemarie Jacir's film takes place almost entirely in a car and on doorsteps. The narrative does not discuss politics directly, but every visit shows the conditions of living as a Palestinian in Nazareth. Father and son are played by Mohammad Bakri and Saleh Bakri, who are father and son in life as well. The film screened at the Locarno Festival in 2017 and was submitted as Palestine's Oscar entry. Who it's for: Viewers who like Palestinian cinema, father-and-son narratives, and single-day structures. Who it's not for: There is almost no plot and the pace is low. The narrative also reaches no resolution.