Ana Arabia (2013): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 2013, Ana Arabia is a notable film directed by Amos Gitai, running about 85 minutes.

What it’s about. Filmed in one sequence-shot of 1 hour and 25 minutes, Ana Arabia is a moment in the life of a small community of outcasts, Jews and Arabs, who live together in a forgotten enclave at the “border” between Jaffa and Bat Yam, in Israel. One day, Yael, a young journalist, visits them. In these dilapidated shacks, in the orchard filled with lemon trees and surrounded by mass public houses, she discovers a range of characters far removed from the usual clichés offered by the region. Yael has the feeling of having discovered a human goldmine. She no longer thinks of her job. Faces and words of Youssef and Miriam, Sarah and Walid, of their neighbors, their friends tell her about life, its dreams and its hopes, its love affairs, desires and disillusions. Their relation to time is different than that of the city around them. In this tinkered and fragile place, there is a possibility of coexistence. A universal metaphor.

Who’s in it. Ana Arabia stars Yuval Scharf as Yael, Yussuf Abu-Warda as Yussuf, Sarah Adler as Miriam and Assi Levy as Sarah, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.2/10, Ana Arabia has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. In US you can stream it on Kino Film Collection and rent or buy it from Amazon Video. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Ana Arabia page.