The cultural and ethnic mix of filmmakers who put this film together is perhaps its greatest strength and the result is a work of elemental weight. Beyond the headlines of election violence and suicide bombings, the people who live in the hotbed of tumult in the Middle East carry on with their daily lives. Babies are born, people die natural deaths, and get married.

Taking place over the course of one day¾ the wedding day of younger sister Mona¾ the story centers on a domino effect of difficulties faced by the bride and her family. Caught in the middle of bureaucracy and the ongoing instability of life in the region, the family is Druze, a small but distinct religious sect who for purposes of documentation are "undesignated" nationals. Mona’s intended, whom she has never met, will be waiting with his family and friends on the other side of the border to marry her. She will not be permitted to return to visit her family, ever. Her family will attend the wedding only from the far distant side of the fence at the border.

Ordinary wedding snafus pale by comparison when visa approval is not properly given for exit on one side of the guarded border and Mona is denied entry on the other side. There is an absurd no-man’s land factor, but this is no comedy of errors.

The collaborative effort of writer, director and actors with a mixed bag of backgrounds including Arab, Israeli, French and German don’t so much offer differing points of view as combine to create a compelling, provocative portrait. As seen by director Eran Riklis, the central figure is the bride’s older sister Amal (Hiam Abbass), who emerges as quietly heroic. Although saddened at losing her sister, she believes Mona will have better opportunities in a less closed society. She does not wish to openly defy her husband or her father, but she does what she must. Abbas’ (Paradise Now) subtle performance gives Amal a stiff upper lip as she tries to muster up a festive wedding mood. Her ambivalence is palpable. Amal is resigned, if not content, to remain in her loveless marriage and do the best she can toward a better future for her daughters.

As the day wears on, Amal’s role as the key figure in family and social dynamics deepens. Wearing a thundercloud expression, the conflicted bride prepares for the ceremony. They welcome one long-absent brother who has returned for the wedding with his Russian wife and their child. Their father is nursing old wounds and refuses to acknowledge his son. He has his own political demons to confront if he chooses to stray too near the border to say good-bye forever to his daughter. A younger bachelor brother provides some comic relief. It is a film of subtle emotional power carried in the forced cheerfulness on the face of Amal, wanting a better life for her sister and knowing she is destined to remain in her own patriarchal marriage.

The capable cast includes real life father and daughter, Makram Khoury and Clara Khoury, who play the bride and her father. The widescreen cinematography makes good use of extreme close ups in deep focus against the vast outdoor spaces to further punctuate questions about where people belong and the artificial boundaries that must contain them.