Sand Storm

Ever so subtly like a friend pulling your arm gently, this film pulls your into the world of women and how suffocating it is for them. Across nearly four generations. With the fourth one standing at the window of womanhood but not there yet. It will tell you how their voices are muted, how their choices are compromised, how emotions, feelings, their conscience, society, reputation are all used against them. The mother is the best actor I've seen in a Long time on screen. The amount of pain, frustration, anguish she conveys with so much subtlety is mind numbing. The Daughter was stellar too. Sumbolism and metaphor used time and again in the form of tunnels, windows, make up, weddings as a societal device. Gorgeous film. One of the best I've seen offlate. Kudos to the filmmaker, the crew and the actors. Phenomenal.

Most people are disappointed with the movie , may be because they rather expected a drama with plot twists. But in real life you don't get too many. That's why this movie is different. The mother and the girl was excellent.

The film follows the struggle of a young Bedouin girl and her will to be free of old traditions that try to keep her caged in a man's world. The main plot follows Jalila (Ruba Blal-Asfour), the first wife of a man that is trapped under the pressure of having a new young wife join the clan. Her daughter, Layla (Lamis Ammar), has a secret lover at school, and Jalila must decide if she is part of the mechanism that will trap her daughter too or going to fight for the next generation to have more than she could ever dream of. The brave directing and storytelling brings to the screen a complex story, exhibiting female struggles from a very specific perspective yet in a very universal way. It is not by chance that the film has had such a successful festival circuit.

Amazing film. Moving. The mother-daughter relationship was profound.

I was vising my family in Israel and took advantage of the opportunity to watch this movie with friends. I prepared myself for a hard political movie, as some of the media said it was but found myself watching a beautiful non-political universal movie. Sure it is still a hard movie with an educational and sad message but it is a must see movie. We were 4 people and all of us were speechless in the end. Maybe as an Israeli with previous knowledge I had more insights and could understand this movie in several other levels but that doesn't mean that this is a great movie. Great job to all the cast and I hope it will succeed not only in the theaters across the world but may also be nominated for the Oscar this year. The cast and the story deserves it.