Ziad Doueiri Weathers THE ATTACK

 

When I spoke with Lebanese-born Ziad Doueiri on July 31, 2013, it was the day after his film, THE ATTACK, had played to an enthusiastic and nearly sold-out screening at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. Doueiri‘s film is one that provokes strong emotions, as in an almost Hitchcockian fashion, Dr. Amin Jaafari, a Palestinian-Israeli, an apolitical man, is thrust into the darkest part of the Middle Eastern conflict because of actions by his wife. That he knew nothing about them doesn’t matter. In an instant, everything changes and for the worse.

Ziad Doueiri, San Francisco, CA 7/31/13

My first question to Doueiri, who worked on several Quentin Tarantino films after emigrating to the U.S., was a suitably philosophical one, about whether a culture of such mistrust and violence can ever heal itself.  He was direct, thoughtful, and not averse to making a joke from time to time as we went on to talk about why the film is banned in 22 Arab countries, how he knew what he was getting into breaking Lebanese law by filming in Israel, and why he actively sought to have his film pirated in those countries where it would not otherwise be seen.  We also talked about the short-lived attempt to produce the film through Focus Features, when Tom Hanks was proposed as the lead.

 THE ATTACK is a film about trust, idealism, and reality. Ali Suliman plays Dr. Amin Jaafari, an Israeli Palestinian Muslim surgeon at the top of his career, and fully integrated into Israeli society until his Christian Palestinian wife, who seemed equally integrated, becomes a suicide bomber. With almost everyone he knows looking on him with suspicion, Amin at first denies what his wife has done, and then does on a personal quest to discover what could have driven her to such an extreme. Doueiri directed from a screenplay he co-wrote with Joelle Touma and based on the novel by Yasmina Khadra. Doueiri’s previous work includes WEST BEIRUT and LILA SAYS. 

 

Click the link to listen to the interview (24:48) THE ATTACK — Ziad Doueiri Interview.