Welcome to Love Theft and Other Entanglements

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Logline

A Palestinian car thief gets into the trouble of his life when he steals the wrong car. What he thought was an Israeli car and an easy way to make money in his impoverished refugee camp turns out to be a load of misfortune when he discovers a kidnapped Israeli soldier in the trunk

Synopsis

Mousa gets into the trouble of his life when he steals the wrong car. What he thought was an Israeli car and an easy way to make money in his impoverished Palestinian refugee camp turns out to be a load of misfortune when he discovers a kidnapped Israeli soldier in the trunk.

Mousa's hopes of paying the bribe that will guarantee him an exit visa out of the country and away from his wrecked love affair dissipate as he finds himself on the run from Palestinian militias and the Israeli intelligence.

Director's Statement

Grassroots Filmmaking

" Cinema to me has always been a medium where people from different backgrounds, with different skills and talents come together to create stories, stories to be shared with the world beyond the limitations of geography or culture. I have always kept my family and friends close and I feel blessed to have them by my side because without them my cinema would never be possible. I'm a result of life with them as a community and as an individual reflecting on our experiences, pains, happiness, dreams and nightmares."

This was the path I believed in for years and pursued. I always felt I had to create a model of storytelling and film production that would enable me, my family and my friends to create films and share compelling organic stories with the world against the odds of our country's limitations and challenges of funding.

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A Story About Redemption

Love, Theft and Other Entanglements is a universal story of an anti-hero and his journey towards redemption.

The lead character (Mousa) is neither the Palestinian national ideal typically found in many Palestinian films nor the pure victim of the occupation who is otherwise a perfect manifestation of good. He is not the typical antithesis of that either. He is not a national traitor or an Israeli collaborator. In fact, Mousa wants nothing to do with politics even though politics inadvertently come his way. He is an imperfect human being with many dislikeable traits. He is a car thief running away from his troubled past; a love affair tragically ruined by his actions. He steals to bribe a way out of the country and away from his wrecked past. But his actions only get him into deeper trouble.

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Drama, Thriller, Fairytale

" Love, Theft and Other Entanglements is a drama, a thriller and a fairytale. While most of the extraordinary situations and coincidences faced by the lead character are inspired from direct experiences of mine, of people I know or from other real stories that affected me, I wanted to present them as merely a chain of challenges on the character's journey towards change. I did not want to focus on the events in of themselves or to present them in a realistic fashion against Palestine's political and economic backdrop. I wanted to focus on the character's universal story and not draw any more attention than necessary to the place and time period in which it unfolds.

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Director's Biography

Muayad Alayan

Director, Co-Producer, Director of Photography, Co-Writer

Muayad Alayan is a Palestinian film director and cinematographer based in Jerusalem. After completing his studies in San Francisco and being part of its grassroots filmmaking culture, Alayan retuned to Palestine with the goal of making organic cinema by and about Palestinians as a community; a cinema made through the participation of people coming together to tell stories, against all odds and with means that creatively defy limitations.

At the age of 22, Alayan tested his vision with his first narrative short, Lesh Sabreen?, which was made with the participation of youth and young adults in his home village and focused on their experiences and concerns as youth living in Jerusalem and under occupation. The film was premiered in competition at the prestigious Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France in 2009 and went on to compete at several other prestigious festivals such as Aspen Shortsfest, Cinemed, Palm Springs Shortfest and Dubai Film Festival, in addition to over 60 other festivals in 25 countries worldwide. The film was distributed widely on DVD and television and won the youth jury prize for Best International Film at the Cork Film Festival in Ireland as well as two honorary mentions at La Cittadella Del Corto in Italy and Al-Ismailia Short Film Festival in Egypt

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Director's Filmography

Director

Love, Theft & Other Entanglements (Narrative Feature) 2015
Sacred Stones (Documentary) 2012
Mute (Short) 2010
Lesh Sabreen? (Short) 2009

Cinematographer

Love, Theft & Other Entanglements (Narrative Feature) 2015
Private Sun (Short) 2011
Mute (Short) 2010

Producer

Love, Theft & Other Entanglements (Narrative Feature) 2015
Private Sun (Short) 2011
Sacred Stones (Documentary) 2012
Mute (Short) 2010
Lesh Sabreen? (Short) 2009

Writer

Love, Theft & Other Entanglements (Narrative Feature) 2015
Mute (Short) 2010
Lesh Sabreen? (Short) 2009

Co-Producer's Biography

Rami Alayan

Co-Producer, Art Director, Co-Writer

Rami Alayan is a designer and filmmaker based in San Francisco. His work centers around designing visual, narrative and interactive experiences that engage and captivate audiences. Whether the final product flickers on a big screen or responds to touches and clicks on a handheld device, Alayan's work is about imagining and designing what's not there but what's possible.

Alayan works with creative teams of filmmakers and software developers to turn a project's vision into a reality. He participates as a screenwriter and interaction designer as well as a producer and project manager. Alayan's educational background encompasses creative, technical as well as business training. He holds a professional certificate in feature film writing from the UCLA Extension School as well as a master's and two bachelor degrees in computer science and business management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

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Cast & Crew

Cast
Sami Metwasi
Maya Abu Alhayyat
Ramzi Maqdisi
Riyad Sliman
Kamel Elbasha
Hussein Nakhleh
Valantina Abu Oqsa
Mustafa Abu Hanood
Nicola Zreineh
Mohammad Othman
-
Musa
Manal
Kamal
Avi
Militia Leader
Mousa's Father
Blind Woman
Official
Ibrahim
Michael
Crew
Muayad Alayan
Rami Alayan
Ihab Jadallah
Noor Hodaly
Sameer Qumsiyeh
Bashar Zarour
Khader Zeidan
Sami Zarour
Ahmad Hawareen
Fuad Hindieh
Hamada Atallah
Nathan Daems
Kostas Fylaktdis
Giannis Gianakopulos
Michael Cinquin
-
Director, Director of Photography, co-Writer, co-Producer
Art Director, co-Writer, co-Producer
Assistant Director
Line Producer
Editor
Camera Assistant
Gaffer
Art Designer
Production Assistant
Special Effects
Wardrobe
Music Composer
Sound Design and Mix
Sound Design and Mix
Colorist
Cast
Sami Metwasi
Musa
Maya Abu Elhayat
Manal
Ramzi Maqdisi
Kamal
Riyad Suliman
Avi
Kamel ElBasha
Militia Leader
Hussein Nakhleh
Mousa's Father
Valantina Abu Oqsa
Blind Woman
Mustafa Abu Hanood
Official
Nicola Zreineh
Ibrahim
Mohammad Othman
Michael
Crew
Muayad Alayan
Director, Director of Photography, co-Writer, co-Producer
Rami Alayan
Art Director, co-Writer, co-Producer
Ihab Jadallah
Assistant Director
Noor Hodaly
Line Producer
Sameer Qumsiyeh
Editor
Bashar Zarour
Camera Assistant
Khader Zeidan
Gaffer
Sami Zarour
Art Designer
Ahmad Hawareen
Production Assistant
Fuad Hindieh
Special Effects
Hamada Atallah
Wardrobe
Nathan Daems
Music Composer
Kostas Fylaktdis
Sound Design and Mix
Giannis Gianakopulos
Sound Design and Mix
Michael Cinquin
Colorist

Contact Us

Muayad Alayan:

+972 52 808 9352

Rami Alayan:

+1 415 217 9090