The Syrian Bride

Mona's wedding day is the saddest day of her life. Once she crosses the border between Israel and Syria to marry Syrian TV star Tallel, she will never be allowed back to her family in Majdal Shams, a Druze village in the Golan Heights currently under Israeli control. The story of Mona's wedding day is a story about physical, mental and emotional borders and the will to cross them. A story about a family torn apart by differences of tradition, politics and prejudice: the tough, political father, the playboy brother, the outcast elder brother, and Amal, the elder sister, a modern woman trapped in a culture and tradition she wants to break out of. In the Middle East, once a border is crossed, there is often no way back, and at the end of a long day the bride, her family, the government and military officials gathered on both sides of the border find themselves facing an uncertain future, trapped in no man's land. "THE SYRIAN BRIDE is an attempt to contribute by creating a film out of love. Love of freedom, love for the spirit of freedom, love for the physical and emotional landscapes that surround us, all of us. A love for women who fight for their place in the world and a love for people who still dream and hope -- here, across the border, everywhere." -- Eran Riklis