Palestinian director Scandal Copti's first feature since his Oscar-nominated 2009 debut, Ajami, is a vibrant, naturalistic ensemble piece.

By Siddhant Adlakha

From Palestinian filmmaker Scandar Copti, the Israel-set “Happy Holidays” is a haunting, realistic family drama whose pivotal moments reveal deep cultural and political dimensions surrounding gender and ethnicity. Like his Oscar-nominated crime drama “Ajami” (which he co-directed with Yaron Shani), Copti’s second feature follows an ensemble of characters — both Arab and Jewish — to create a multifaceted portrait of life in Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city.

Depicting strained family ties and troubled courtships, “Happy Holidays” veers between anxious and joyful. Copti and cinematographer Tim Kuhn film every interaction with a close-up, handheld intimacy that not only magnifies the subtle, powerful performances of the cast (many of them first-time actors) but also welcomes the viewer into each scene, as if it were an intricate family reunion. At the center of the sprawling plot are four members of an Arab family, who share several informal, pleasant scenes together but whose secrets from one another speak to a larger culture of silence, shame, social pressure and rampant prejudice.