Film Forum

WINNER – Grand Jury Prize, 2020 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

Filmmaker David Osit subtly – and with a keen eye for black humor – explores the absurdities of a worldly politician trying to turn his city into a Middle Eastern Amsterdam while in the midst of a geopolitical storm. Follow the mayor of Ramallah – de facto capital of the Palestinian people – and you’ll see him greeting grateful constituents on the street, planning the town’s neon-bright Christmas celebrations, mulling “city branding” slogans with his aides in an effort to boost tourism…or dodging gunfire from an Israeli army fracas. It’s all in a day’s work for Mayor Musa Hadid, a liberal Christian and civil engineer by training, whose charming public persona is balanced by a self-effacing, realist streak. “I feel jealous when I visit other cities,” he laments. “They can do so much that we cannot.” “Thoughtful and gripping. There are whiffs of Veep-like humor throughout MAYOR. It’s also a sincere tale of a public servant who’s seeking to lead in a world that’s stacked against him.” – Alissa Wilkinson, Vox

Presented with support from the Richard Brick, Geri Ashur, and Sara Bershtel Fund for Social Justice Documentaries.

USA / UK     2020     89 MINS.     FILM MOVEMENT     IN ENGLISH AND ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBITTLES

Watch a Q&A with director David Osit and Steve James (HOOP DREAMS, CITY SO REAL).

Virtual Cinema program supported by the Robert Gore Rifkind Foundation.

Reviews

“Thrilling and perceptive. The best new film about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Offers a striking new perspective on that struggle, with a personal on-the-ground quality matched by grand tonal ambitions that makes it the best of its subgenre. An operatic verite drama that often dips into bureaucratic black comedy and unnerving suspense.”
– Eric Kohn, Indiewire

“Impressive. Engrossing. A study in politics both micro and macro, showing what happens when the two come fatefully crashing together.”
– Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter

“Astonishing. Gripping and surprisingly witty... Osit brings a respectful approach that admirably never registers as observations of a patronizing Westerner.”
– Tomris Laffly, Variety

“Subtly electrifying... deeply affecting. A movie full of vitalising, delicate observations.”
– Robert Greene, Sight & Sound