In this ambitious and wide-reaching epic, Jacir deftly creates a patchwork of characters - the young Yousef from a small village; Afra and her family of farmers; Amir, a newspaper editor, and his journalist wife Khuloud; Father Boulos, the village priest; and the British dignitaries - whose personal intertwined stories play out against the events of history.

These character strands plus striking archival footage creates emotional engagement with the characters’ respective destinies. It sets up the cruelty and injustice of the decades that would follow, and that eventually lead us to what we are witnessing today.