Saleh Bakri stars in Farah Nabulsi’s tense, empathetic, and all-too-necessary drama of life in present-day Palestine.

English teacher and former radical Basem tries to be a good guide for his younger students, but faces an exceptional challenge when one seeks revenge on Israeli settlers who killed his brother. Simultaneously, old connections make him watch over an IDF hostage – and when the latter’s American parents arrive looking for him, conflict becomes hard to escape. Written and directed by the British-Palestinian Nabulsi (co-writer and director of the BAFTA-winning short The Present) and shot in Palestine just before the current violence erupted, the film gives a compelling human face to the conflict and the lives it has destroyed, highlighting the urgent need for peace and understanding. Bakri (The Blue Caftan, Salvo) excels as a torn, compassionate man struggling to make himself heard.