Junction 48

by Udi Aloni

Junction 48

Synopsis

Kareem leads an aimless life between odd jobs and hanging out with his buddies. He lives with his parents in a crime-ridden ghetto of the mixed Jewish-Arab city of Lyd, some 20 minutes from Tel Aviv. Most of his childhood friends have turned to selling drugs through “ATMs” – transaction holes in the walls of dilapidated buildings. Kareem‘s loving musician parents are constantly worrying about his life choices and they try hard to guide their son on the right path. Kareem is devastated when his father is killed in a car crash. The family tragedy brings him closer to his singer girlfriend, Manar, and motivates him to do something more with his life. Kareem and his group have been performing at small neighborhood gigs and family birthday parties. When they finally get a chance to perform in a Tel Aviv hip-hop club, Kareem‘s star potential is quickly noticed. The “first Arab rapper” is asked to appear on a TV news program. As Kareem‘s talent develops, so does his political consciousness, and the group‘s lyrics become more defiant. Although he raps “I‘m not political,” Kareem and the group use music to express their tough life as Palestinian youth. But the road to success is never easy... Kareem and his group face a violent confrontation with nationalistic Jewish rappers. Their friend Talal, already mixed up with a dangerous drug lord, could lose his home because of government-imposed gentrification. Kareem‘s biggest blow could be not having Manar onstage with him for his most important gig yet. Her cousins threaten to harm them if she performs publicly with him, an act which they consider a disgrace to the family honor. The time has come for Kareem to either surrender to conservative tradition or stand up for the woman he loves, the artist he respects...

Director

Udi Aloni (born 1959) is an Israeli and American director and writer whose work frequently explores the interrelationships between art, theory, and activism. His films have been presented in the Berlinale and other major film festivals. His past awards include the Berlinale‘s CINEMA Fairbindet Prize. Aloni‘s visual art has been presented in leading museums and galleries, including the Metropolitan in New York and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. His most recent book is What Does a Jew Want? On Binationalism and Other Specters (Columbia University Press, 2011). His recent stage work was Anti-Oedipus at the Schillertag Mannheim 2015. In recent years, Aloni has mentored young actors from one of the harshest refugee camps in Palestine, helping them reach the world stage.

FILMOGRAPHY:
2016 JUNCTION 48
2013 ART/VIOLENCE (documentary feature)
2009 KASHMIR: JOURNEY TO FREEDOM (documentary feature)
2006 FORGIVENESS
2002 LOCAL ANGEL (documentary feature)

Cast

Tamer Nafar - Kareem
Samar Qupty - Manar
Salwa Nakkara - Kareem's Mother
Saeed Dassuki - Talal

Crew

Director Udi Aloni
Screenplay Oren Moverman, Tamer Nafar
Director of Photography Amnon Zalait
Editors Isaac Sehayek, Jay Rabinowitz ACE
Original Score Tamer Nafar, Itamar Ziegler
Production designer Salim Sh‘hade
Costumes Dany Bar Shay (Hacol Dvash Ltd.)
Make-up Dorit Cohen
Sound design Gil Toren
Producers David Silber, Lawrence Inglee, Stefan Arndt, Udi Aloni
Co-producers Yasmin Zaher, Suhel Nafar ,Ben Korman, Katie Heidy

Technical Data

Format: DCP / 2.39:1 / color / 5.1
Length: 96 min.
Original Language: Arabic, Hebrew

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