Lipstikka (2011) 

Odem

Directed by: Jonathan Sagall

Two old friends, Lara (Clara Khoury) and Inan (Nataly Attiya), both living in London, meet after a long separation.  Over the course of a day, and with numerous flashbacks to earlier stages of their lives, we learn how something about how they reached this point.

This film from Canadian-born Israeli director Sagall defies easy national characterisation.  An Israeli production, it concerns two Palestinian women (one Moslem, the other Christian) and is largely set in the suburbs of London.  Like so many dramas being screened at TIFF2011, Lipstikka uses the flashback as its primary storytelling device, and the way it’s done nearly de-rails the film.  The narrative is so elliptical that for a long time the increasing intrigue we feel is easily matched by a sense of frustrated bewilderment.

But stick with it: it comes together, and is worth the wait – it is a movie full of humanity.  The acting, particularly by Moran Rosenblatt and Ziv Weiner as the younger versions of Inan and Lara, is excellent.