Keswick Film Festival

Synopsis

Depending on your mindset, this is either a very appropriate film for now...or not. Are the Palestinians to blame for the conflict in Gaza, or the Israelis? This film tries to take a decidedly slapstick look at the problem and comes out with the answer - "we should all just learn to live together" Now there's an idea...

Jafaar is a very poor Palestinian fisherman. One day, emptying his nets, he finds he has caught a large pig. As a Muslim, this causes him something of a problem; as a poor Muslim he cannot afford to look a gift, er, pig, in the mouth. He can't eat it because it isn't Halal, he can't sell it to the Israelis because it isn't Kosher. He tries to hide it from his wife, he tries to sell it to the U N. He even tries to... Well I won't spoil it and tell you the rest, but along the way expect some 'belly' laughs.

The second half of the film changes gear, with Jafaar being accused of siding with the enemy and even suicide bombing.

The lead role is taken by Iraqi born Sasson Gabai, who also starred in 'The Band’s Visit', a similar attempt to see both sides of this conflict. The director Sylvain Estibal is a French ex-reporter in the Middle East who is now based in Uruguay. He sets out to remain impartial in the conflict, while trying to bring out the absurdities on both sides and to raise the almost impossible issues in the area.

Compared to some of the other films we are showing this year, this is a shoe-string budget movie and, as one of the few critics who bothered to review it says "If the why-can't-we-all-just-get-along message is simplistic, the film, shot in Malta, and occasionally rough-hewn, has its heart in the right place and is worth 90 minutes of anyone's time" — Bernard Besserglik, Hollywood Reporter. Let’s find out.