Amreeka

Amreeka is the debut feature film of writer/director Cherien Dabis, loosely based on Dabis' own memories of immigrant life in rural USA. The film stars Nisreen Faour, Melkar Muallem (his debut), Hiam Abbass, Alia Shawkat and Yussef Abu Warda. It made its debut in competition at the Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 2009. National Geographic Entertainment will release the film to theaters on September 04, 2009.

Muna Farah (Nisreen Faour), a single mother, works at a bank in the West Bank, encumbered by boredom at work, humiliation at checkpoints and a nagging mother. She is however very proud of her son, Fadi (Melkar Muallem) who is studying in a private school. Muna obtains a Green Card unexpectedly - she had even forgotten that she had applied for one. She makes the difficult decision of moving to the USA for the sake of her son.

They arrive just as the Iraq War commences, and are regarded with suspicion. Muna and Fadi stay with Muna's sister Raghda (Hiam Abbass) in rural Illinois. Stripped of her lifetime's savings by customs officials, Muna secretly takes a job at White Castle, a fast food restaurant, when she discovers that her sister's family faces financial constraints. She tells her sister and son that she is working at a bank, a job that she could not actually find as her accent and pudginess dilute the value of her education and experience.

Meanwhile Fadi gets into trouble at school, where his background leads to teasing and ostracism. He ends up in a fight with one of the students who teases him, and Muna has to visit the school to discuss his behaviour. She finds the principal at the school sympathetic.

Eventually, Muna's secret is discovered, and she has to deal with the revelation and her son's troubles.

"a culture-clash dramedy whose background in Middle-East conflict is leavened with vibrant energy, balanced politics and droll humor by first-time feature director Cherien Dabis. Enormously appealing turn by earthy Nisreen Faour in the lead role of Muna, a Palestinian single mother who brings her teenage son to rural Illinois in pursuit of a brighter future, more than makes up for the film's familiarities." &mdash Rob Nelson, Variety Magazine http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=review&id=2471&reviewid=VE1117939387&cs=1

"A heartfelt, fully realized comic drama about Palestinian immigrants in the American heartland." - Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporterhttp://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film-reviews/film-review-amreeka-1003931653.story

• Nisreen Faour as Muna Farah

• Melkar Muallem as Fadi Farah

• Hiam Abbass as Raghda Halaby

• Alia Shawkat as Salma Halaby

• Yussef Abu Warda as Nabeel Halaby

• Joseph Ziegler as Mr. Novatski

• Amer Hlehel as Samer

• Selena Haddad as Lamis Halaby

• Jenna Kawar as Rana Halaby

• Suheila Muallem as Jamileh

• Brodie Sanderson as Matt

• Andrew Sannie as James

• Daniel Boiteau as Mike

• Jeff Sutton as Jason

• Miriam Smith as Bank Employee

• Glen Thompson as Nelson