Dear All,
I’ve just seen the most delightful film: called The Idol. It’s an amazing (true) story of a young man from Gaza who in 2013 not just made it to the Arab Idol TV competition -- but actually won.
It is a funny, heartwarming film which keeps the viewer engaged from start to finish and is also very sad. Essentially, it is a story of triumph over adversity, of the victory of the underdog, of the power of human spirit and of the uplifting capacity of art.
This dramatisation of Palestinian singer Mohammad Assaf’s story is directed by Hany Abu-Assad and is an astonishing production -- well acted, sensitively photographed and crisply edited. What is also remarkable about the film is that much of it is shot in Gaza, and the four young actors who play Mohammad, his sister and his two friends as children are all Gaza locals, recruited through auditions in the Gaza Strip. These young actors turn in outstanding performances and lend great authenticity to the story.
The Idol also gives us a glimpse of life inside this besieged Palestinian territory, and of all the everyday realities and frustrations of living in what an older Mohammad describes in the film as ‘a prison’. Out of all the rubble of the ruined landscape emerges a picture of individuals trying hard to retain hope in their lives, where mundane aspects of existence play out in an always volatile atmosphere.
The Idol was screened to general acclaim at the Toronto Film Festival last year, and it won the People’s Choice Award at the Dubai International Film Festival last winter. It has also been selected as the Palestinian entry for the best foreign language film for the Academy Awards. But despite these achievements and the fact that it is such an endearing and enjoyable film, the film is surprisingly under-noticed internationally. Reviews are few and far between and many are grudging or guarded. Why is this? A similar film (with a much more far-fetched story), Slumdog Millionaire, was treated with far less scepticism than The Idol and part of the reason surely must be politics.
The Idol is a feel-good and not a polemical propaganda film, yet I feel that in critical and publicity terms it hasn’t really been given a fair chance. This extreme caution may well be the result of fear. In some way, fear of being seen to be ‘anti-Semitic or anti-Israel’, fear of being seen as supporting a militant cause…
Today expressing concern about the Palestinian issue is frowned upon and treated almost an offence. It is termed as somehow ‘supporting terrorists’. Neither the Arab nations nor the world media has managed to focus attention on conditions in Gaza -- which exist in state of siege and deprivation.
The politics of the Middle East seems to have shaped the way this film has been received internationally. But I sincerely hope this will have no bearing on the Motion Pictures Academy’s decision in February. I would really like to see The Idol win the Oscar for best foreign film -- it is so moving and so wonderfully acted and produced; it’s a bittersweet story about love and hope.
Highly recommended viewing…
Best wishes