The Teacher

After receiving an Oscar nomination for her short film, THE PRESENT, Palestinian British filmmaker Farah Nabulsi set out to take audiences on an intense, emotional journey into the Israeli occupied West Bank. Based on real life experiences of relatives, the story lifts the curtain on the hardships and difficult choices Palestinians have to make. 

Starring the renowned Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri in a moving performance, the film follows the character of Basem, a teacher with a buried personal tragedy. Throwing himself into his work, he forms a deep bond with his student, Adam.

Shot entirely in Palestine, told with humanity and empathy, Nabulsi brings these threads together, leaving us with a sense of compassion and hope for a future, even as the present reality seems to offer none.

THE TEACHER premiered at The Toronto Film Festival, received Best International Feature Award at Galway, Audience award at San Francisco International Film Festival, among many others; the film has received over a dozen awards!

Join us and our conversation with filmmaker Farah Nabulsi on her journey to make THE TEACHER on INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE, starting now.

THE TEACHER is the feature debut of Palestinian British filmmaker Farah Nabulsi who endeavours to take audiences on an intense, emotional journey into the lives and experiences of those living in occupied and colonised Palestine, and lift the curtain on the hardships and difficult choices they have to make. The film stars Saleh Bakri (“The Blue Kaftan,” “The Present,” “Wajib” and “The Band’s Visit”), Imogen Poots (“Outer Range,” “Green Room,” “28 Weeks Later” and “This Much I Know is True”) Muhammad Abed El Rahman, Stanley Townsend, Paul Herzberg, Mahmoud Bakri and Andrea Irvine. The feature follows a Palestinian school teacher (Saleh Bakri) who struggles to reconcile his life-threatening commitment to political resistance with his emotional support for one of his students (Muhammad Abed El Rahman) and the chance of a new romantic relationship with a volunteer worker (Imogen Poots). The film premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and has recently received the Best International Film Award at Galway Film Fleadh 2024. It won Audience Awards at the 67th San Francisco International Film Festival 2024, the 38th Washington DC International Film Festival 2024, and Kosmorama Trondheim International Film Festival 2024, among over a dozen additional awards