Life in Ajami, a district in the city of Jaffa (Israel), is dominated by violence and crime. Stifling Arabic family ties, gangs, revenge, brutal policing and racism prevail. Award-winning, kaleidoscopic thriller Ajami shows how different people experience these realities in a totally different way.
The Ajami district in Jaffa is a cultural melting pot, where Jews, Muslims and Christians have clashing ideas and where enemies live like neighbors. Ajami shows how this reality affects the local residents. Sensitive 13-year-old Nasri and his older brother live in fear after their uncle wounded a prominent person. They need money urgently to avoid honor killing. Naive Palestinian refugee Malek is working illegally in Israel to pay for his mother’s surgery. Rich Palestinian Binj dreams of a bright future with his Jewish girlfriend. And Israeli policeman Dando has to cope with both his brother’s disappearance and the task of arresting drug dealers.
Ajami is the debut film of a Palestinian and an Israeli director, showing how the toilsome relationship between their countries casts a cloud upon everyday life.