Muna

Israeli summer of 2014- Muna Abud, a successful female Israeli-Arab photographer who lives and works in Tel Aviv, is putting together an exhibition of her work portraying strong, groundbreaking Arab women. The exhibition will take place in Paris and be sponsored by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On one hand, her Arab critics argue that this exhibition is an attempt to cover-up for the discriminating Israeli establishment; on the other hand, her Jewish critics refuse to accept her as their representative and some of her exhibition’s heroines decide to pull out of the project.

Muna is a strong woman; but simultaneously, her brand new and complicated romantic relationship with Yaniv, a Jewish news producer, is being put to the test ever so intensely against her family and the village she grew up in.

The 2014 Gaza war separates them, sending Yaniv to the southern battlefront, not far from his nationalist parents who know nothing of his life and love in Tel Aviv, and Muna to her parents’ home where she learns of the violence and humiliation that her childhood friend Suhir is going through by her husband Adna’an.

By the end of summer which should have been the turning point of her life, where her art would break out to the big wide world and she’d have the courage to introduce Yaniv, her love, to her parents, Muna finds herself in Paris; lonelier than ever, but probably stronger than she’s ever been.

The creator of this series, an Israeli-Arab musician and actress Mira Awad, began giving ‘Muna’ life on the winter of 2014, revolving around the former war in Gaza, and the Eurovision Song Contest in which Mira represented Israel. This series is inspired by her personal experiences.