A Wedding in Ramallah

Bassam, a telephone repairman in Cleveland and a palestinian in exile, returned to Palestine to find a wife. He already had one failed marriage in the US where he looked for "love." Since that did not work out, he is not averse to having an arranged marriage this time around. He later met his future wife, Mariam, and after knowing each other for a couple weeks, they got married. From then on, he had to go back to the U.S. while Mariam moved in with Bassam's family in their town. There, we are introduced to Bassam's sister-in-law who is also in a long wait for her husband to come back from the U.S. just to visit her. Eventually after a long long wait, Mariam gets to go to the U.S. while her in-law is still waiting for her immigration paper (and she has waited for more than 7 years already but her husband continues to refuse to allow her to join him in New York City). There onward, only a short segment of the film focuses on Mariam's life in Cleveland. Is it a happy ending? Like everything in life, it depends on your point of view.

I absolutely loved this movie because even though it is documentaries and allotted ample time for everyone to tell his or her story in front of the camera, it was never boring! It was always captivating and truly heart-breaking. The film also showed some real footage of the fightings on the street of Palestine. Over all, I feel that Sherine did a good job allowing the audience to decide who is right or wrong because everyone has his or her own reasons and it is never easy to cast blame on one person alone. I was held at the end of my seat throughout the movie. 9 out of 10.