'Farha' filmmaker remains firm amid Israeli threats

Darin Sallam rejected the pressure after Farha told the story of a girl whose family was killed by Israeli militias during the 1948 Nakba.

During an interview with Arab News, Sallam said, “I’m not afraid, to tell the truth. We need to do this because films live, and we die.

This is why I decided to make this film. Not because I’m political, but because I’m loyal to the story that I heard.”

The film has vexed Israeli officials, who have slammed Farha and even threatened consequences for its airing.

“It’s crazy that Netflix decided to stream a movie whose whole purpose is to create a false pretense and incite against Israeli soldiers,” outgoing Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman said in a recent statement.

Sallam revealed her mother told her the story of a young girl locked up in her room amid the partition of Palestine in 1948.

“She was locked up by her father to protect her life,” Sallam recounts.

“She survived [the conflict] and she made it to Syria, where she met a Syrian girl and shared her story with her. This Syrian girl grew up, got married and had a child, and she shared the story with her daughter—and this daughter happened to be me.”