Rana's Wedding

Hany Abu-Assad's 2002 Rana's Wedding is one of the finest films to emerge from the still-young genre of Palestinian cinema. Rana is a 17-year-old facing an impossible situation. Her father, who is leaving Arab East Jerusalem for Egypt, gives her two choices: join him abroad where she can continue her college education, or remain in the Holy Land and marry a man from a list of eligible bachelors who've expressed interest. However, Rana has a third plan: marry her boyfriend Khalil, a theater director in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. But trying to a) reach Khalil in the face of Israeli military roadblocks, b) find a registrar who'll sanction the union, and c) bring both back to her father, requires a monumental effort. Clara Khoury plays Rana with an indefatigable spirit and assertiveness that belies the common stereotype of docile, submissive Arab women—in fact, she feels like the first modern heroine of Arab cinema, one who balances the need for stabilizing Islamic traditions with contemporary social realities that demand intellectual and spiritual equality for women. A rare film that challenges without lecturing and emboldens without sloganeering, Rana's Wedding is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (P. Hall)