Milh Hadha Al-Bahr (2008)

The film is about Thuraya, who returns from America to claim her grandfather’s inheritance, held in a British bank since before the 1948 Nakba. In the first ten minutes of the film, which runs for just over an hour, viewers may feel they are watching a documentary: the story begins with documentary footage of Palestinian homes being bulldozed and demolished. Then the film’s heroine, Thuraya, appears. Carrying an American passport, she has come from Brooklyn to visit Jaffa, her family’s city. Although she is an American citizen, her Arab features and surname make her unwelcome to the airport inspection department, which passes her from one officer to another while repeatedly asking the same questions. Once the inspection procedures are over, Thuraya sets off for the bank in Ramallah to claim her grandfather’s money. She is shocked when they refuse to give it to her, on the grounds that money deposited in the bank before the Nakba cannot be reclaimed. She replies to the bank manager, “The bank is still here, so how can the money be gone?” but he stands firm. Leaving the bank, Thuraya meets Imad, a young Palestinian man she has recently met who works as a waiter in a restaurant. They decide to rob the bank. They break in, and she asks the cashier to give her $15,000 and two years’ interest, which is her grandfather’s share. They escape with their third friend, Marwan, to Jaffa. Thuraya visits her family’s house and is surprised to find an Israeli woman living there. Imad knocks on the door, and when the Israeli woman opens it, he asks her, “Do you know this house belongs to this lady?” gesturing toward Thuraya. She tells him she didn’t know and says she could host them. The three friends go inside. Thuraya asks her about the furniture in the house, and the Israeli woman replies that perhaps her family got rid of it. Some time passes, and Thuraya asks the Israeli woman to leave the house. She refuses and calls the police. Thuraya and Imad leave, but Marwan stays behind. They decide to visit the village of al-Dawayima, Imad’s birthplace. It is an abandoned village, but they find a house and settle in. They go out when necessary and to buy supplies. On one occasion, a police patrol comes and demands Imad’s papers. They discover that he is Palestinian. Thuraya tries to intervene, but to no avail, and they are separated: she returns to her country when her two-week stay expires, while Imad is taken away by the authorities.