Oscar-nominated Omar, which debuted across the US on February 21 (and will open to a BPFF-sponsored, sold-out audience in Boston tonight), is both a love story and a complex political thriller. At its core are two relationships stemming around the young protagonist: the one he has with the love of his life, and the one forced upon him with Israeli-Arab Agent Rami.
Rami, played by Palestinian actor-producer Waleed Zuaiter, is “ultimately a good person, with a very unfortunately bad job,” according to the actor.
“It’s a necessary evil what he has to do. For me, it wasn’t about portraying any kind of stereotype. It was very important to me that Rami was someone people could relate to and sympathize with.“
When Zuaiter, who grew up in Kuwait, first heard about director Hany Abu-Assad’s latest film venture, he immediately hopped on board as the main producer. He was determined to finance Omar with Palestinian-sourced donations on its way to the Academy Awards, a challenge the fundraisers exceeded. Over 90% of the funds for Omar were private Palestinian funds; the rest came from smaller grants from Dubai.
“The mission and the goal was to get the Palestinian financial community to invest in the community, to create jobs…and to really support the talent,” he said.
“We feel like we’ve made history.”
Zuaiter is eager to see what Omar will do for the Palestinian film community, who he says is saturated with talent and potential.
“Hopefully this will encourage more Palestinian films. There are so many amazing stories that need to be told, and hopefully this will open the door for many more to come,” he added.
By Alia Gilbert
Boston’s sold-out premiere of Omar is this Friday, February 28 at 7:30pm at West Newton Cinema.
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