Samer Saifan’s If Birds Believed in God centers on how cultural identity can turn into a personal risk. The film follows a young man forced to weigh cultural pride against self-preservation as the world feels like it’s closing in on him.
Ismail (Adam Budron) is a Palestinian photographer who, for the past several years, has been capturing life in Palestine and the effects of Israeli settlers. With tensions rising, Ismail moved back to New York City with his parents and brother, hoping to restart his photography career in the “safety” of the United States.
Celebrating his return to the U.S., Ismail’s mother, Farha (Leyla Modirzadeh), gives Ismail his grandfather’s keffiyeh to wear with pride. Muhammad (Nasser Faris) bristles at Farha’s gesture, believing that if he wears it, he might as well put a target on his back… but this is America.
“Ismail’s mother, Farha, gives Ismail his grandfather’s keffiyeh to wear with pride.”
Samer Saifan’s If Birds Believed in God is a reflection on life after the events of October 7, 2023. When it comes to rising tensions, there are always two sides of the coin that become the unwitting pawns of their political and military leadership’s whims. This is certainly true here, as the world observes from afar, taking sides and playing the endless game of “what about this?” and “what about that?”
Here we see the conflict through the eyes of a Palestinian family in America. Ismail’s parents were refugees in Lebanon when he was born, before emigrating to the United States. At the heart of the story is Ismail’s struggle with his Palestinian roots. Does he retreat to the safety of the U.S. border, or does he take a stand for his culture and the deaths occurring during the war in Gaza?
If Birds Believed in God allows its audience to empathize not only with what an average Palestinian has been going through emotionally—and the fear for their safety brought on by the war—but also with the realization that even when the conflict is seemingly over, it never is.
For more information, visit the If Birds Believed in God official website.
"…how cultural identity can turn into a personal risk."
