Bassem Loulou

Santa Claus tries to outrun a gang of knife-wielding youth. It's one of several vignettes of Palestinian life in Israel - in a neighborhood in Nazareth and at Al-Ram checkpoint in East Jerusalem. Most of the stories are droll, some absurd, one is mythic and fanciful; few words are spoken. A man who goes through his mail methodically each morning has a heart attack. His son visits him in the hospital. The son regularly meets a woman at Al-Ram; they sit in a car, hands caressing. Once, she defies Israeli guards at the checkpoint; later, ninja-like, she takes on soldiers at a target range. A red balloon floats free overhead. Neighbors toss garbage over walls. Life goes on until it doesn't.

The film is set in the near future, and it looks back on how peace was made in 2013 between Israel and Palestine. It is the story of two businessmen - one Palestinian and one Israeli - who struggle to set up a solar energy company. Both come from societies where there is strong opposition to cooperating with the other, and the film tells how they overcome hostility from within their own families and from the people around them. In the end, they mount a Facebook campaign that brings popular support both to their joint venture and to the peace process. The film was produced by Amir Harel, an Academy Award-nominated Israeli producer, and directed by Sameh Zoabi, a leading Palestinian film-maker.

Jawdat, a young Israeli Arab, just wants to have fun with his friends, spend hours chatting on his cell phone, and above all, find love. But he keeps going on failed dates with Muslim, Christian, and even Jewish girls, while desperately trying to pass his Hebrew test to get into university and leave his village. Things get complicated when Salem, his father, an olive farmer, wants him to join him in his fight against the antenna installed in a neighboring field by the Israeli telephone company, which he suspects is irradiating the villagers.