Ajami's American posterLevantine Cultural Center invites you to a special screening of Ajami followed by a Q/A afterward. Tickets are available online here (be sure to click the $8 price option, up to 6 tix per person) or at the door and request the Levantine Center discount (arrive early as space is limited).

The film opens Feb. 19 at Laemmle's Sunset 5, Monica 4 Plex and Encino's Town Center.

Lost in the international debate on the Israeli-Palestinian question is the fact that Israel has become a complex multicultural society. No film makes that more evident than the gritty crime drama Ajami—Israel's strong entry into this season's Oscar race.

Shot with mostly non-professional actors by Arab and Jewish co-directors Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani, the film is a harsh reality-check on the country's healthcare system, relations between police and the citizenry, inter-Arab gang rivalries, and the rift that separates Jews, Christians and Muslims.

The film explores five different stories in Ajami, an inner-city hood in Jaffa, which is to Tel Aviv as the Valley is to L.A.

Read a review of the film in Levantine Review. Watch a report on a screening in Boulder, CO.

MORE about the film:

Ajami is essential viewing for intelligent dialogue on the Middle East —whatever your ethnic, religious, or political background.

Israel's entry for Best Foreign Film is a brave, apolitical look at Jews and Arabs in Jaffa's multi-ethnic Ajami neighborhood. Ajami is a searing debut by Israeli and Palestinian co-directors, whose balanced perspective and use of non-professional local actors, bring palpable authenticity to the complex, cross-cultural drama.

Shakespearian in its scope and themes—revenge, loyalty, hope and despair—the film draws us into the lives of two brothers fearing assassination; a young Palestinian refugee working illegally to cover his mother's medical expenses; and a Jewish cop obsessed with his missing brother. Through its unprecedented authenticity and immediacy, the film forces us to look at the Middle East conflict through the commonality of the human condition —and the tragic consequences that can occur when enemies live as neighbors.