The Half-Meter Incident (Hadissan an N-Nisf Metre)

“One of the most audacious debut films in recent Arabic cinema, The Half-Meter Incident is a great rarity, a film of ironic social criticism from Syria that really does amuse and entertain while it satirizes. Director-writer Samir Zikra, a graduate of the Moscow Film School, made only shorts and newsreels before this feature. Set in Damascus in 1967, the film revolves around a government tax official who falls in love with a student while riding a half-meter away from her on the bus to work. The film is concerned not only with satirizing the failings of bureaucracy and the tribulations of love but also with received ideals about war; the radio reports daily Syrian success in the Israeli war only to announce a psychologically devastating final defeat. Zikra could possibly become the Olmi of the Arabic cinema.” Ken Wlaschin, Filmex '84

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