The Reports on Sarah and Saleem

Plot

The plot centres on an extramarital affair between a Palestinian man and an Israeli woman, Sarah and Saleem, both of whom are married. Sarah is a Jewish Israeli who owns a cafe in West Jerusalem, while Saleem is a Muslim Palestinian bakery delivery man from East Jerusalem. The second half of the film focuses on the personal and political fallout of the couple's affair, in which both of them are investigated by the authorities after Saleem is taken in by the Israeli army and brutally interrogated. Sarah's husband, David, is in the army.

Cast

Adeeb Safadi, as Saleem

Sivane Kretchner, as Sarah

Ishai Golan, as Sarah's husband, David

Maisa Abd Elhadi, as Saleem's wife, Bisan

Kamel El Basha, as Abu Ibrahim

Hanan Hillo (aka Hanan Al Hillo), as Maryam

Production

The director

The film is Palestininian filmmaker Muayad Alayan's second feature film as director, after Love, Theft and Other Entanglements (2015). Both films were written by his brother, Rami Alayan. Muayad Alayan (born 1985) is a Jerusalem-based filmmaker and cinematographer. He studied film in San Francisco, where his 2005 graduate project, a documentary film called Exiles in Jerusalem, won the Kodak Award. His short film debut Why Sabreen? (2009), made with and about the youth of his village, was screened and won awards at film festivals world. He has worked as a lecturer on film at several academic institutions in Palestine, and, with his brother Rami, co-founded PalCine Productions.

Cast and filming

The cast were carefully chosen: "We wanted the best actors for the roles, but we also wanted actors who in terms of the politics were people who would be okay working for us." (Muayad Alayan). Israeli actor Ishai Golan organises campaigns protesting against theatres that operate in Israeli settlements. Sivane Kretchner was targeted by the Israeli Ministry of Culture because of her role in the first Hebrew version of the British play My Name Is Rachel Corrie, about an American activist crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer at Jerusalem Khan Theatre.

During filming in Bethlehem, in the summer of 2017, Israeli military vehicles came and picked up the director, line producer, and art director for checks. After several hours, they told the filmmakers that even though they were filming in Palestinian territory (the West Bank), they had to let them know.

It is spoken in Arabic, Hebrew, and English, and is subtitled.

Release

The film was screened at the Rotterdam Film Festival in February 2018, and at the Bristol Palestinian Film Festival (in Bristol, England in December 2018.

It was released in the US in June 2019.

Reception

The Washington Post called it "a gripping new thriller", giving it 3.5 stars out of 5.

The Los Angeles Times wrote that the film "combines fine naturalistic acting and a psychologically complex script".

As of March 2024 the film has a 94% score on the critics' ratings on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 32 reviews.

Awards and nominations

2018: Winner, Hubert Bals Fund Audience Award, International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR)

2018: Winner, Best screenplay, to Rami Alayan, IFFR

2018: Winner, Grand Jury Prize at the Seattle International Film Festival

2018: Winner, Best Film, Durban International Film Festival

2018: Winner, Best Actress, Durban International Film Festival, for Maisa Abd Elhadi