Clara Khoury Movies
Fresh off of their success with director Martin Scorsese's The Departed, star Leonardo DiCaprio and screenwriter William Monahan team with director Ridley Scott for this screen adaptation of David Ignatius' novel Body of Lies. When CIA operative Roger Ferris (DiCaprio) uncovers evidence indicating that a major terrorist leader may be operating out of Jordan, he enlists the aid of CIA veteran Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) in infiltrating the elusive saboteur's vast underground network. During the course of his dangerous mission, Ferris gradually comes to question how much he can trust his presumed allies -- who include not just Hoffman, but the outwardly helpful head of Jordanian intelligence as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, (more)
- 2005
A 20-year-old American Israeli decides to move back to Israel and reconnect with his roots, only to be institutionalized in a mental-health facility constructed on the grounds of a Palestinian village that was massacred by a Jewish militia back in 1948. David Adler (Itay Tiran) has moved back to Israel, but the joy of his homecoming is short-lived when he is committed to a mental institution and injected with a chemo-technological drug at the behest of his father -- a Holocaust survivor and famous musician. Later, blind mental patient Muselmann, who serves as a conduit between the worlds of the living and the dead, implores the troubled David to listen to the ghosts that have long been rumored to dwell in the hospital corridors. It seems that the spirit of a ten-year-old girl holds the secret to a riddle that could bring an end to the continual cycle of violence that sweeps their land, but only when she finds eternal rest will that secret finally be revealed. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Itay Tiran, Clara Khoury, (more)
A family deals with the typical anxieties of a wedding day while also confronting the political turmoil of the Middle East in this drama, a collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers. Hammed (Makram J. Khoury) is a leading political figure in Majdal Shams, a Druze community that has been under Israeli occupation since the late '60s. Years ago, Hammed arranged for his daughter Mona (Clara Khoury) to marry Tallel (Derar Sliman), who has since become a successful actor in Syria. Hammed has gathered the family together to see Mona off, but the occasion is a bittersweet one -- given the combative relationship between Israel and Syria, once Mona crosses the border with her husband, it's unlikely she will ever be able to return. Hammed's oldest son, Hattem (Eyad Sheety), comes back from Russia, where he now lives with his wife, but his father still refuses to forgive him for leaving the land of his birth. Marwan (Ashraf Barhoum), a younger son, is a businessman living in Italy who uses his visit home as an opportunity to visit Jeanne (Julie-Anne Roth), an American United Nations representative he's been dating. And daughter Amal (Hiam Abbass) helps her sister Mona deal with the stress and details of her big day as she struggles to live as a modern woman while married to Amin (Adnan Tarabshi), who wants his spouse to follow a more traditional path. Makram J. Khoury was ideally cast as Hammed in at least one respect -- he's the real life father of Clara Khoury, who plays his screen daughter Mona. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hiam Abbass, Makram Khoury, (more)
Rana (Clara Khoury) is a young Palestinian woman, living in Jerusalem. Her father (Zuher Fahoum) is moving to Egypt, and he knows that Rana does not want to go with him. He thinks she's too young to get married, but he gives her a choice; she can go with him, or she can marry one of the men on a list he's compiled of acceptable bachelors. On the morning of her father's departure, Rana sneaks out of the house and goes to meet Khalil (Khalifa Natour), the man she loves, as they had arranged. But a bombing the night before has kept Khalil from coming to Jerusalem, so Rana has to navigate a treacherous bureaucratic labyrinth of checkpoints and armed guards to reach Khalil at the theater where he works in Ramallah. When she finally gets there, her troubles are far from over. Her plan is for Khalil to marry her, but because she's underage, they find they need her father's permission. Together with Khalil's friend, Ramzy (Ismael Dabbag), the couple must drive back to Jerusalem, pick up the registrar to officiate, and convince her father to let her marry Khalil. As the deadline grows closer -- her father is taking an afternoon flight -- Rana ponders her decision to marry and to stay in Jerusalem, and wonders whether or not she's doing the right thing. Rana's Wedding was written and directed by Hany Abu-Assad, who also made the 2002 documentary Ford Transit. Both films were shown at the 2003 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, where Abu-Assad was awarded the Nestor Almendros Prize for courage in filmmaking. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clara Khoury, Khalifa Natour, (more)
