01/10/2012 - Ziad Doueri has adapted Yasmina Khadra’s novel to the big screen

In the family of a Palestinian doctor living in Tel Aviv, everything happens peacefully, or at least as peacefully as it can in a land marked by pain and war. Yet after a suicide attack, the doctor discovers the true identity of his wife: a Palestinian terrorist.

In The Attack, an adaptation of Yasmina Khadra’s bestselling novel, director Ziad Doueri, who trained in the shadow Quentin Tarantino to whom he was assistant, offers a chilling and hyper-realist portrait of the emotional impact of having a terrorist in one’s family. The film stars Ali Suliman (Paradise Now) who, with great mastery, carries forward the dramatic weight of a screenplay that does, at times, seem to veer in different directions but overall is convincing and provokes applause.

The Attack is also a personal achievement for Ziad Doueri, as it was initially rejected in both the United States and Israel. He however succeeded in making this powerful and moving film, with a co-production diagram involving Qatar, Lebanon, Egypt, France, and Belgium, and with the participation of Canal+ and the Doha Film Institute.

Despite its initial rejection in the United States, the film has ended up in the hands of Cohen Media Group and Focus World for its release in North America, while Wild Bunch is handling its international sales.

In San Sebastian, the film has received a special mention from the TVE “Otra mirada” Award jury (made up of cultural director Ane Rodríguez, film director Azucena Rodríguez, and the director of TVE’s second channel Montse Abbad, who acted as jury president), who awarded their first prize to Israeli film Six Acts.

(Translated from Spanish)