Palestinian director Najwa Najjar has combined a stellar cast (including Ali Suliman, Yasmine Al Masri, and legendary actress Hiam Abbass), a set of remarkable locations within the Palestinian territories, and an intense story of love under pressure to produce an Arab world hit, set to break-out internationally in 2009. Najjar shot the film entirely in the Palestinian territories, something she admits was a “gamble”. The efforts of the Palestinian and international crew, including cinematographer Valentina Caniglia, paid off: the setting of scenes in Ramallah, Jerusalem and elsewhere are bona fide and impressive. The film opens with a brilliant ensemble scene, as handsome olive farmer and treasured son Zaid (newcomer Ashraf Farah) and his bride, dancer Kamar (Al Massri), travel to their wedding, negotiating checkpoints on the way. Just a few days later, the joyful celebrations come to an abrupt end: the farm is squatted by settlers and soldiers, and Zaid is imprisoned in Israel on a trumped-up charge. Kamar turns to dance, consoled by the arrival of a new choreographer, Kais (Suliman), who has recently returned from exile in Lebanon. The prolific veteran actress Hiam Abbass plays the part of a sassy café owner and confidante effortlessly. Najjar nimbly walks a tightrope in Pomegranates and Myrrh: the universality of the narrative belies her courage in tackling the specifics of her society, including the struggle between traditional and contemporary cultural mores, and the taboo subject of a prisoner’s wife tempted to go astray. She references the struggle of life under occupation, but portrays its suffocating, all-pervasive nature in matter-of-fact storylines that are all the more accessible and human for it. Her characters live their lives surrounded by the Israeli military (and settler) machine, but they live life: the film’s power lies in its ability to focus closely upon the everyday rollercoaster of familial and other relationships – the affiliations and rapport so often denied Palestinians (and others under siege) when we 'consume' their lives solely through grisly media reportage.