Gabi Trinkhaus' "LO SE MON" Tricks the Mind

From a distance, no one could be faulted for thinking this was an aerial view of L.A.  Closer inspection reveals that this is a collage of a supposed web of streetlights and highways that dematerializes into a collage of advertisements found in pop culture magazines.  The brightness of the city is merely consumer glitz and brand names.

Gabi Trinkhouse calls the work "LO SE MON," an acronym for love, sex, money - what makes the world go round.  The media domination of urban society is totally evident here.

Hany Abu-Assad's Omar Examines Betrayal in West Bank

This is not a movie about love.  It is a movie about betrayal among Palestinian freedom fighters in the West Bank.  Directed by Palestinian (born in Nazareth) Hany Abu-Assad, it is the first film (2014) to be accepted by the Academy with origin listed as Palestine.  The $2 million budget was funded entirely by Palestinians.  Zuaiter, living in California for 20 years, helped raise funds and visited the West Bank for the first time.

In a New York Times interview, Assad views the three protagonists as archetypes: Tarek (Eyad Hourani) as leader and war-maker, Amjad (Samer Bisharat) is joker and opportunist, and Omar (Adam Bakri) is the fighter.  Assad reveals the routines of everyday life including an affection for U.S. actors like Marlon Brando and Brad Pitt.  There is a comical scene where Rami (see below) argues with his wife and mother over phone trying to arrange school pickup.  It is reminiscent of CIA agent Russell Crowe in Body of Lies (2008).  With the Wall as backdrop, every aspect of local existence is highly politicized.  Omar's difficulty in climbing over the Wall near the film's end is highly metaphorical.

Affiliated with the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, the 3 men carry out a sniper attack on an Israeli military outpost, as a proof of manhood.  Ultimately, Omar is arrested, tortured and imprisoned.  Rami (Waleed Zuaiter), an Israeli officer coerces Omar to be an informant in exchange for release. Omar becomes trapped and conflicted.  The hopeless impasse between Jews and Arabs is symbolized in Omar's conflicted relations and his "solution" in the final scene.