ABOUT THE FILM
Returning to his native city just months before the new millennium, filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad, captures the daily, idiosyncratic beats of Nazareth - a city both Christian and Muslim consider one of the most sacred in the world. Today, 72 percent of the inhabitants are Muslim, but most of the land is owned by Christian institutions - a situation that causes great tension. Set against the background of the riots surrounding a square that both Christians and Muslims lay claim to, Abu-Assad allows his story, NAZARETH 2000, to unfold through the eyes of two cynical, funny and wise gas station attendants who have been working at the service station for decades. Their comments on the political and social conditions of their city paint both a tragic and subtle image of its inhabitants.
Hany Abu-Assad -- 55' (Palestine/Netherlands: 2001)