'Amreeka' director has touch Hollywood can't match

Posted at 01:58 PM on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009

By Donald Munro / The Fresno Bee

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"Amreeka" is a delight. This self-assured little film about a Palestinian woman who emigrates to the U.S. with her teenage son bestows tremendous affection on its characters. At the same time, however, it makes those characters (and, likewise, the audience) squirm. The film has a light touch and is deadly serious all at the same time, a feat that writer/director Cherien Dabis manages to accomplish much more naturally than the makers of most big-budget, glossy Hollywood offerings.

This worthwhile title from Fresno Filmworks screens today only at the Tower Theatre.

Key to "Amreeka's" success is Nisreen Faour, who plays the plucky main character, Muna, a big-hearted (and big-boned) woman living in Palestine whose husband has left her. Life on the West Bank, with its attendant roadblocks and humiliations, is a hassle. But what really gets Muna is seeing her husband and his new wo- man at the grocery store.

Which is one reason why, when she learns that her immigration application to America has been accepted, it's easier than she expected to pull up stakes and move with her son, Fadi (Melkar Muallem), to Illinois, where her sister lives.

In many ways, "Amreeka" tells the typical fish-out-of-water immigrant story as Muna and Fadi navigate the complexities of a modern American life complicated by heightened racism after 9/11. Yet Dabis refuses to pump up the sentiment or overdose on the angst.

'Amreeka' director has touch Hollywood can't match

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ENTERTAINMENT

One of the keys to making "Amreeka" a delight is Nisreen Faour as the plucky main character, Muna.

[an error occurred while processing this directive] Grade: A-

The difficulties that Muna faces -- losing all her cash at the airport, trying to find a job, navigating her complex relationship with her sister and brother-in-law, worrying about her son getting bullied at school -- are serious but not overplayed. As director, Dabi is adept at putting them into perspective and not wringing them too much for dramatic tension.

Instead, we slowly get to know this hard-working, cheerful woman and admire her resourcefulness, good humor and bountiful love for her family.

It's a plucky, sweet portrayal, and Faour captures her character's sense of resilience with tenderness and warmth. That's a good way to describe the film itself. "Amreeka" is a place you'd want to visit. And call home.

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The reporter can be reached at dmunro@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6373. Read his blog at fresnobeehive.com/author/ donald_munro.

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