By Roger Costa
Through the bars of a window, moved by curiosity, a young girl observes the first intimate encounter between a newly married couple. Her curiosity reveals the sense of the “unknown” experienced by women living under Bedouin traditional rules, which decides her fate, and her spouse, without her previous consent. Young Laila lives in this unjust environment , sharing enormously connection with her father, as well as disagreements with her mother. While riding with her father, she receives the news that she couldn’t pass an important school exam. The disappointment in her father’s eyes is tremendous, Laila trying to console him exclaims “At least I tried”. That’s just the beginning of the failed expectations. Laila is experiencing love for the first time, and after the preparations and consummation of her father’s new wife’s arrival, following the speed of her heart, she will try to convince the rules won’t stand for what she’s feeling and will do anything to have the family’s approval for her love affair with a schoolmate. Making her debut in a feature length film, Israeli director Elite Zexer beautifully unveils secret emotions and reactions as she observes the feminine universe of these women: Laila’s impulsive desire and premature ambitions, the mother’s obvious jealousy and indignation with the fact of sharing her husband with other women, the scandalized reactions of grandmother, and the changing process of the new wife. The director coordinates these topics with extreme sensibility and accuracy, exposing intolerance and injustice among them, as the narrative depicts their silent strength, their mutual respect and acceptance, the prejudice of being considered minority in society, the dependence and devotion to men, as well as the preservation of their doctrines. Against her family’s approval, Laila goes to school in order to meet her prohibited lover from another “tribe” as the mother describes. They interact in a powerful dialog about the consequences they could face, but they are confined even to their own concepts of beliefs, living under the shadows of fear and guilty. They are putting everything at risk, their families, their traditions and also the vigor of love.
Extremely natural and honest, director Zexter conceived a unique look at cultural exchanges and the obstacles of love defying barriers. But above all, it is a complex and triumphant story about the strength and endurance of women. One of the most celebrated films at this year’s Sundance and Toronto Film Festivals, “Sand Storm” is a very promising directorial debut.
SAND STORM (A Kino Lorber Release. Opens Wednesday, September, 28th at Film Forum in NYC)
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