New Poster And Images For Miral – Starring Freida Pinto, Willem Dafoe & Yasmine Elmasri

I can’t wait to see this, it looks fantastic, the cast alone is first-rate with Freida Pinto, Willem Dafoe, Yasmine Elmasri, Alexander Siddig and Vanessa Redgrave. Miral is scheduled for a December 3rd release through The Weinstein Company, it will be premiering at the 67th Venice International Film Festival in September followed by an appearance at the 35th Toronto International Film Festival just days later – in which I will be attending . I’m sure this will be a strong contender during the awards season. Miral is the first feature film from director Julian Schnabel since 2007 with The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – which was nominated for a number of Oscar’s. Miral is adapted by Rula Jebreal from her own novel of the same name, the film revolves around a real orphanage in Jerusalem set up by a Palestinian woman (Hiam Abbass) in the wake of the 1948 partition of Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel. The story will span the years 1948-94. Check out the synopsis below, this looks like a cracker!

Based on the novel by Rula Jebreal (who also penned the screenplay), the movie revolves around a real-life orphanage established by a Palestinian woman (Abbass) following the 1948 creation of the Israeli state. (Pinto) was sent to the orphanage in 1978. When, later in life, she goes to teach at a refugee camp and falls for an activist, Miral is torn between resistance and education as separate paths to political change.