The Boston Palestine Film Festival proudly presents a limited engagement of the Palestinian drama that’s sweeping the international festival circuit by storm…
[Wajib] is proof, if any further evidence was needed, that Jacir is the
pre-eminent female filmmaker in the Arab world…
Filmmaker Magazine
Wajib (duty)
by Annemarie Jacir
2017 | Narrative Drama | 96 min
Arabic with English subtitles
Sunday, March 4, 2018, 3:30 pm Buy Tickets
Thursday, March 8, 2018, 7:30 pm Buy Tickets
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
In this rousing family drama from Annemarie Jacir (When I Saw You), the only daughter of a divorced father (Mohammad Bakri) living in Nazareth is getting married. The father’s estranged son (Saleh Bakri) has returned from Rome after years abroad to honor his wajib (Arabic for duty) to help his father hand-deliver wedding invitations to each guest, as per local Palestinian custom. As father and son spend the day together, the tense details of their relationship come to a head. Wajib is Palestine’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film in this year’s Oscar race.
Since its release mid-last summer, Wajib has received an impressive number of awards at international festivals:
Best Muhr Fiction Feature
Best Actors (Mohammad Bakri & Saleh Bakri)
Dubai International Film Festival 2017
Golden Astor for Best Feature Film in the International Competition
Best Actor (Mohamad Bakri)
Best Feature Film Award Argentine Film Critics’ Association
Best Feature Film SIGNIS Award
Festival Internacional de Cine de Mar del Plata 2017
Best Film
Kerala International Film Festival, India 2017
FICC/IFFS Prize, Youth Jury Environment Prize, and ISPEC Cinema Award
Locarno Film Festival 2017
Special Jury Award
MedFilm Festival in Rome 2017
Special jury mention
BFI London Film Festival 2017
Deeply engaging, elegantly melancholic and emotionally generous, Wajib
is Jacir’s most mature work to date. It is an honest, entertaining panorama of middle class Palestinians elevated by the never-better Bakris whose transfixing chemistry and sizzling charisma makes it a film for the ages.
Middle East Eye
A whip-smart, moving comedy of family and community
Cinevue
The film’s title translated as “duty,” and part of the tension between
father and son comes from what this term really means.
Variety