Amreeka chronicles
the adventures of Muna, a single mother who leaves the West Bank
with Fadi, her teenage son, with dreams of an exciting future in the
promised land of small town Illinois. In America, as her son
navigates high school hallways the way he used to move through
military checkpoints, the indomitable Muna scrambles together a new
life cooking up falafel burgers as well as hamburgers at the local
White Castle.
Told with heartfelt humor by writer-director Cherien Dabis in her
feature film debut, Amreeka is a universal journey into the
lives of a family of immigrants and first-generation teenagers
caught between their heritage and the new world in which they now
live and the bittersweet search for a place to call home.
Amreeka recalls Dabis's family's memories of their lives in
rural America during the first Iraq War. The film stars
Haifa-trained actress Nisreen Faour as Muna, and Melkar Muallen
plays her 16-year-old son, Fadi. Also in the cast are Hiam Abbass,
Alia Shawkat, Yussef Abu-Warda and Joseph Ziegler. Written and
directed by Cherien Dabis, Amreeka was produced by Christina
Piovesan and Paul Barkin. Alicia Sams, Dabis and Gregory Keever were
executive producers; Liz Jarvis and Al-Zain Al-Sabah were
co-producers.
Amreeka made its world premiere in dramatic competition at
the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, and played as Opening Night of New
Directors/New Films, a co-presentation of The Museum of Modern Art
and The Film Society of Lincoln Center. Amreeka made its
debut internationally in Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film
Festival.
To celebrate the DVD release of Amreeka,
PopEntertainment.com and
Virgil Films & Entertainment giving away a copy of the new DVD! Just fill out the below to enter!
