107 min
Michel Khleifi
Fiction
1995 - Palestine/Israel

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From acclaimed director Michel Khleifi (Wedding In Galilee), Tale of the Three Jewels is the first feature ever filmed in the Gaza Strip. Made in the days following the Hebron Massacre and before the arrival of the Palestinian Authority, the film tells the story of twelve-year-old Yusef, who escapes from the chaos of the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict by looking for birds in the tranquil countryside. One day his hunt is interrupted by Aida, a ravishing gypsy girl from a nearby neighborhood. Yusef is immediately smitten, but when he declares his intention of making Aida his bride, she says he must first find the three jewels missing from a necklace that was brought from South America by her grandfather. Yusef quickly formulates a plan to cross the sea in order to fulfill Aida's request and win her love.

Screened in the Director's Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival in 1995, Tale of the Three Jewels effectively utilizes the grim backdrop of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip as contrast for Michel Khleifi's whimsical story of romantic longing and the power of imagination.

Screened with Closed Zone