Worth: $15.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Karam Taher, Ashraf Barhom, Sameera Asir, Ali Suliman, Tala Gammoh
Intro:
… an incredibly ambitious take on a period drama, tripling as a coming-of-age story and a survival thriller while managing to turn a lack of visual clarity into an artistic strength.
Based on actual events, Farha follows the titular young woman (Karam Taher) as her village becomes embroiled in the Nakba, a violent expulsion of Palestinian Arabs in 1948. For the bulk of the film, the audience is tied directly to Farha’s perspective, locked inside a food storage shed for her own safety, but what is shown through that cramped frame is genuinely haunting.
Sallam and DP Rachelle Aoun run a clinic on small-budget filmmaking, using minimal sets and lighting to put the audience right in Farha’s shoes throughout. Taher gives an excellent central performance, authentic in the character’s scholarly ambitions early on and then resourceful as she tries to gather water, warmth, and just things to pass the time. It plays out like a Middle Eastern spin on the Anne Frank story, emphasising her captivity and the need to keep out of sight… while the things happening outside drive home just how terrible the conflict is.
As much as the darkened visuals can be overbearing at times, the sparse depictions of the outside only end up making the reality of things hit that much harder. When dealing with the levels of massacre, and the extent to which the filmmakers try to (and mainly succeed in) getting across the humanity of such inhumane acts, being any more explicit could have come across as exploitative, especially with the grislier acts of violence shown. The effect ends up beneficial, working with limitations, much like Farha herself.
Kudos are also due for the sound design, which says even more than the glances through the peephole. The sound team led by Cherif Allam add to the claustrophobic atmosphere, with the bang of weapon fire and uncomfortably well-mixed screams and pleas, creating an environment where the isolation truly feels like a mercy compared to what could be happening out there. To say nothing of what it adds to Farha’s own character arc; speaking with her best friend about their plans for the future… which gets cut off by the sound of the first shots.
Farha is an incredibly ambitious take on a period drama, tripling as a coming-of-age story and a survival thriller while managing to turn a lack of visual clarity into an artistic strength.
It’s a first-person perspective on the horrors of war that builds on the weight of its historical backdrop to create an unnerving depiction of how much was lost, and how much the survivors carried away with them.
