Screened as part of NZIFF 2023

Inshallah a Boy 2023

Inshallah walad

Directed by Amjad Al Rasheed Widescreen

The injustices of a patriarchal power system are laid bare in this Jordanian debut as a widow takes drastic measures in order to avoid losing her home and inheritance to her in-laws because she hasn’t conceived a son.

Aug 10

Rialto Cinemas Dunedin

Aug 16

Rialto Cinemas Dunedin

Jordan In Arabic with English subtitles
116 minutes DCP

Director

Producers

Rula Nasser
,
Aseel Abu Ayyash

Screenplay

Amjad Al Rasheed
,
Rula Nasser

Cinematography

Kanamé Onoyama

Editor

Ahmed Hafez

Production Designer

Nasser Zoubi

Costume Designer

Zeina Soufan

Music

Jerry Lane
,
Andrew Lancaster

Cast

Mouna Hawa
,
Haitham Omari
,
Yumna Marwan
,
Salwa Nakkara
,
Mohammad Al Jizawi
,
Elslam Al-Awadi
,
Seleena Rababah

Festivals

Cannes (Critics' Week), Sydney 2023

Elsewhere

“According to Jordan’s laws, which are guided by Islamic Sharia jurisprudence, if a woman does not have a son, the husband’s family is entitled to a share of the inheritance. Thus recently-widowed Nawal (Mouna Hawa) has no time to mourn: instead, she is embroiled in a legal battle with her brother-in-law, Rifqi (Haitham Omari), desperate to keep the only home she and her daughter know. Nawal lies about being pregnant, delaying court proceedings for nine months on the potential promise of a male heir.

Inspired by the real-life experiences of a close relative of director Amjad Al Rasheed, Inshallah a Boy delivers a social realist critique of Jordan’s structural oppression of women and girls… Nawal moves between two metaphorical prisons: work and her home in Amman. The death of her husband throws her life into freefall, and she discovers a series of secrets about him… Nawal takes public transport from their low-income community to the wealthier West Amman, where she works as a carer for an invalid lady from an affluent family. At work, she is diligent and keeps her head down. At home, she must deal with her late husband’s debts, including Rifqi’s insistence that she pay what he owed immediately – Rifqi has his own family to support… Ultimately, there are no villains here: everyone suffers in this system of inequality where even someone who wants to take control of their own life can’t.

At times, Nawal behaves irrationally, but, motivated by her stirring fight for independence, Mouna Hawa’s sincere and gutsy performance will win audience favour. Pregnant or not, Nawal fights for future generations to inherit equality.” — Tara Judah, Screendaily