Ajami

This powerful drama uses five interconnected stories to explore the lives of the Christian, Muslim and Jewish inhabitants in the mixed Jaffa neighbourhood of Ajami: a young Israeli fighting a criminal vendetta against his family, a Palestinian refugee working illegally to finance life-saving surgery, a Jewish police detective obsessed with finding his missing brother and a Palestinian dreaming of a future with his Jewish girlfriend. The two directors of the film - an Israeli Arab and an Israeli Jew - have put together a powerful and moving film that deals realistically with the characters it focuses on and spins stories that are only strengthened by their interdependency. Ajami has won a host of prizes, including the Wolgin Prize at the Jerusalem Film Festival, the Ophir Prize for Best Israeli Film of 2009 and an Academy Award nomination.