'Other Israel' festival lands in Brooklyn

Here is the lineup for the Palestinian-centric offshoot of the Other Israel Film Festival this weekend in Bay Ridge:

“Ajami” (2009)

“City of God” meets “Crash” meets the Middle East in this Academy Award-nominated crime drama where gangs, drugs, and fights are the norm. A Palestinian “Godfather” of sorts, the film follows four stories in the West Bank, interweaving them as the film unfolds.

“Coffee — Between Reality and Imagination” (2010)

Palestinian and Israeli students came together to direct this series of shorts centered around one of the most unifying things in the Middle East — coffee! The shorts look at the personal lives of people as they go about their everyday business.

“Laila’s Birthday” (2008)

On the day of his daughter’s seventh birthday, a West Bank taxi-driving judge has only one goal: get home early with a present and a cake. Along the way he must deal with a number of peculiar riders, as well as the twists and turns life throws at him in this existential comedy. 

“Zahara” (2009)

Director Mohammad Bakri tells the moving story of his 78-year-old aunt, Zahara, a mother of 10 who moves to Israel after the death of her husband — and that’s when the real challenges began.

— Adam Warner