Film Independent’s Fiscal Sponsorship program opens the door to nonprofit funding for independent filmmakers and media artists.
 

Logline

A pregnant Palestinian woman, whose husband died in the Israeli prison, wants to avenge his death. Under Hamas’ guidance, she plans a terror attack in Israel. The premature birth of her son makes her reconsider, but will Hamas let her off the hook?

Synopsis

In Jenin, The West Bank, Nabila (16) sneaks out of her house to meet her boyfriend, Abed. Abed gives her a bracelet.

Six years later, in her eighth month of pregnancy, Nabila trains with a knife. She’s about to commit a suicide terror attack in Israel and Rafik, her Hamas operator, wants her to prepare for any scenario. Nabila wants to avenge Abed’s death in the Israeli prison, but her mother tells her terror is a cowardly action and that she doesn’t want to lose her and her unborn grandchild.

Nabila’s water breaks. Her mother and sister, deliver the baby. Nabila is overwhelmed. Rafik tells her it changes nothing and that they must go on with the plan.

Nabila doubts her decision, but Rafik threatens to kill her family. For the first time, she sees Hamas in a new light. She turns to her sister for help but learns she believes in the cause with all her heart. Understanding there is no safe haven, Nabila decides she’d rather take the baby with her than have him be raised under Hamas. At the border, she freezes, but can’t back out. The soldiers suspect her behavior and surround her, but she pulls it together and manages to pass.

Arriving in Tel Aviv, Nabila sees how different it is from Jenin and from what she envisioned. Nabila makes a decision, gives the baby Abed’s bracelet and says goodbye, giving him life for the second time.
 

Meet the Filmmakers

Adva Reichman — Writer/Director
Adva Reichman is an Israeli filmmaker born and raised in Israel. She earned her bachelor’s degree in IDC in Israel for communication and business. After her studies, she worked in the news in Israel for two years. At the same time, she also worked as a researcher on four documentaries that dealt with terror attacks in Israel. In 2015, she moved to LA to pursue her master’s degree. In fall 2015, Adva became an MFA candidate at the USC, school of cinematic arts, focusing on writing and directing. Today, she is writing a feature about the complexity of the conflict and is working on her thesis film that deals with the same subject.

Nahd Bashier — Producer
Nahd Bashier is a Druze-Israeli filmmaker and actor. He is a graduate of the University of Haifa in Israel for directing and acting as well as theater studies. Over the years, Nahd has been a part of several organizations including the Fringe Theatre, the director’s board of the Ministry of Culture and Sport, a member of the Druze and Cherkasy culture committee and severed as an artistic director in the Kafron Theatre. He directed, wrote and acted in countless theatre plays, TV shows and films. While pursuing his career in the industry, he has won awards such as Best Actor, Best Play and Best Innovative Work. Nahd recently wrote and is starring in a new television show called Dr. Garage which will air in the summer of 2018.

Nicholas Benjamin — Producer
Nick is an American filmmaker who transferred into USC in 2016 where he is a cinema and media studies major with an emphasis in film and television production. While writing and directing short projects on the side, Nick started producing in a class called Single Camera Television Dramatic Pilot, where he produced a pilot called 3rd Ward. From there he went on to produce other projects including a virtual reality project under USC for the Jaunt Virtual Reality Program called Theatre in the Roundabout, an out of control movie set taking place in the 1960s. Nick recently wrapped producing a Sloan Grant project called Under Darkness last summer about a Holocaust survivor who was forced to take pictures for the Germans until eventually joining the Soviet army. He recently finished producing a USC graduate thesis titled Here & Beyond and is slated to produce other shorts in the near future.

Name Melumad — Composer
Nami Melumad is an LA-based composer originally from Israel. Her credits include over 100 narrative and documentary films, TV series and theater productions. In 2017 she was nominated for a Hollywood Music In Media award for This Day Forward (Best Indie Feature Score) and won Best Score (Short) at Fimucite, the Tenerife International Film Music Festival. Her works have been performed by the Hollywood Chamber Orchestra, Haifa Symphony Orchestra, The Israel Sinfonietta Be’er Sheva and Helix Collective Ensemble. She is a graduate of the highly rigorous Scoring for Motion Pictures and TV program (SMPTV) at the University of Southern California and holds a B.A. in multi-style composition from the Jerusalem Academy of Music. Nami is a 2016 alumna of the prestigious ASCAP Film Scoring workshop.

Contact

For inquiries, please contact fiscalsponsorship@filmindependent.org.