The Attack

Amin Jaafari is a successful Palestinian surgeon in Tel Aviv, Israel. He loves his job, owns a beautiful house, and most of his friends are Jews. The first time we meet Amin, he is about to give an acceptance speech for a prestigious award he has received for his work as a surgeon. He talks about the importance of Jews and Arabs to live together without hating each other. During the speech, his wife Siham tries to call him, but he is unable to answer.

The next day, Tel Aviv is shaken by a suicide attack. Amin is working relentlessly to save as many lives as possible, but the explosion was violent, and among the dead are many women and children. Then comes the shock: Siham is accused of carrying out the horrendous act. Amin, unable to believe that his wife could have been responsible for the attack, searches for answers to prove that his wife is innocent. The Attack is a rare kind of thriller, which provokes and challenges our understanding of both Israel and Palestine, terror and love.

Ziad Doueiri (b. 1963) is a filmmaker from Lebanon. He studied film in the US and worked as a camera assistant on several of Quentin Tarantino’s films. Doueiri’s feature film debut is the autobiographical West Beirut (1998), which received critical acclaim worldwide. He has also directed films like Lila Says (2004) and The Attack (2012), the latter screened at Arab Film Days in 2013.