For director, Miral mixes Mideast politics with the personal (Feature)

By Peter Mayer Sep 3, 2010, 3:06 GMT

Venice, Italy - Julian Schnabel's Miral premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday, a day when Israeli and Palestinian leaders were poised, at the urging of US President Barack Obama, to resume direct peace talks.

The coincidence did not escape the US director, nor Tunisian co- producer Tarak Ben Ammar, who both spoke at a news conference in the lagoon city about the film, which looks at the history of the conflict.

'The conflict has to end as soon as possible ... whatever the reasons behind it, they are not good enough' Schnabel said.

Ben Ammar said he wished Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had seen the film before their meeting.

'Obviously, I'm not so naive to think that (Miral) will change the world, but it will touch the heart of whoever watches it,' Ben Ammar said.

Schnabel also defended the right of Western filmmakers to tackle the divisive and volatile topic of this Middle East conflict.

'I cannot see how an artist can do any worse than the politicians,' Schnabel said.

Miral plays against the backdrop of the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories during the so-called Six-Day War and also the Oslo peace accords of 1993 that, before being dashed, had offered a glimpse of a better future.

While it examines the disruption in the lives of several women, the film mainly focuses on one character - the Arab girl, Miral, who is played by Indian actress Freida Pinto, a star of the 2009 Academy Award-winning Slumdog Millionaire.

Reared in a Jerusalem orphanage, the Dar Al-Tifel Institute, Miral has the values of education and tolerance instilled in her by the orphanage's brave and determined founder, (Mama) Hind Husseini.

The film is based on the semi-autobiographical book of the same name by Israeli-Arab journalist Rula Jebreal, who also spoke at the news conference.

'It is the story of a great land as seen through the eyes of a little girl,' she said.

Jebreal also paid homage to her father - in the film portrayed as a devout Muslim - who, after he was left a widower, places his 7- year-old daughter in the care of Husseini.

'He (Jebreal's father) taught me that education is the key to becoming a pacifist,' she said.

This in a world where women often risk being made into child- brides 'or manipulated by religious extremists' Jebreal said.

Despite a widely different background, Schnabel said he also shared several personal and family bonds with Jebreal/Miral's story.

One of these was embodied by the casting in the film of his own daughter, Stella Schnabel, as the Jewish girlfriend of Palestinian Miral.

But he also said less obvious connections existed between his own personal history and Jebreal's book and the context in which it was written.

'As an American Jew I thought I was a good person to tell the story of the other (Arab-Palestinian) side,' said Schnabel, whose The Diving Bell and the Butterfly won the award for best director at Cannes in 2007 as well as several Oscar nominations.

'The values that were instilled in me by my mother are the same as those instilled in Rula by Husseini,' he said.

The Venice Film Festival runs until September 11.