Director: Annemarie Jacir
Talent: Mahmoud Asfa, Ruba Blal, Saleh Bakri, Firas W. Taybeh
Release Date: 6th June
Set in 1967, a child who can’t come to terms with his grey and desolate refugee camp leaves to return to his home in Palestine. En route he meets a group of impassioned freedom fighters determined to take their homeland back by force.
The political indignation that could have been at the heart of this story is only a shimmering presence across its surface. Instead it focuses on a young boy who refuses to leave circumstances out of his control. Thanks to the Mahmoud Asfa’s appealing intensity, When I Saw You works both as a childhood P.O.V on the confusion around resettlement as well as the rippling effect that a conflict can have on a country and people. Unfortunately not every move by the director is perfect; a muted, khaki colour palette doesn’t do much for the eye and an ambling pace undermines some of the plot’s finer points. Tender and engaging, if a little insubstantial.
Words: Eoghain Meakin
For more film coverage this month, see our reviews of Omar, Venus In Fur, A Million Ways To Die In The West, Edge of Tomorrow and Grace of Monaco.
