200 Meters

Released Nov 18, 2022

1h 36m

Drama

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200 Meters: Trailer 1

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Tomatometer

20 Reviews

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Audience Score

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Mustafa, a Palestinian construction worker, lives 200 meters away from his wife Salwa and their children in villages separated by the Israeli border wall. Though his family are all Israeli citizens, Mustafa refuses to obtain a permit to live with them. Unwilling to succumb to what he believes are unjust laws, he instead uses his work permit to visit daily. However, one day he gets a call every parent dreads: his son has been injured and brought to the hospital. Rushing to cross the Israeli checkpoint, Mustafa is denied on a technicality. Stopping at nothing to reach his child, a 200 meter distance becomes a 200 kilometer odyssey, as the increasingly desperate Mustafa attempts to smuggle himself to the other side of the wall. Featuring a magnetic central performance by Ali Suliman, Ameen Nayfeh's debut feature film expertly casts "one man's story as a reflection of a collective experience" (Variety) while maintaining the tender family drama at its core.

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Critics Consensus

Personal and poignant, 200 Meters is a powerfully acted drama that suggests a promising future for first-time feature filmmaker Ameen Nayfeh.

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Noel Murray

Los Angeles Times

Nayfeh scores some sharp political points in “200 Meters,” taking viewers through Mustafa’s increasingly nightmarish odyssey...

Dec 9, 2022

Full Review

Wendy Ide

Screen International

A superb central performance from Ali Suliman as Mustafa is at the heart of this impressive first feature, which persausively captures the grinding indignities of day to day Palestinian life.

Oct 9, 2020

Full Review

Jay Weissberg

Variety

Debuting writer-director Ameen Nayfeh's depiction of the shameful hurdles Palestinians must overcome in their daily lives rings true even when the script falters.

Sep 14, 2020

Full Review

Joanne Laurier

World Socialist Web Site

200 Meters is the first (and an impressive) feature written and directed by Palestinian-Jordanian Ameen Nayfeh (born 1988). The fiction film ... depicts the relentless cruelty of the Israeli government’s policies toward the Palestinians

Rated: 4/4

Jan 15, 2023

Full Review

Hosea Rupprecht

Pauline Center for Media Studies

The film is made even more poignant because writer-director Nayfeh weaves his own experience into the story as well as the experiences his friends have related to him.

Nov 19, 2022

Full Review

Bobby LePire

Film Threat

Suliman, who carries every bit of rage, love, fear, sadness, and desperation with such pathos and heart he overcomes every flaw the film might have.

Rated: 7.5/10

Nov 18, 2022

Full Review

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Brent M

How important is a film's title in relation to its premise? That may seem like a strange question, but it's one that's surprisingly relevant where this Palestinian release is concerned. Writer-director Ameen Nayfeh's debut feature about a separated Palestinian family living on two sides of the dividing wall between Israel and the Occupied Territory – a metaphorically cavernous 200 meters apart – starts off as a domestic drama about the challenges of such a difficult lifestyle, one characterized by the dynamics of "so close yet so far," a theme seemingly reinforced by the picture's title. However, as quickly becomes apparent, the story turns into an unexpected (and eminently dangerous) long-distance road trip tale involving a desperate attempt by the family's father figure (Ali Suliman) to reunite with his relatives on the Israeli side of the border when an unforeseen tragedy occurs. Ordinarily this would be a generally manageable undertaking, but it's prohibited in this case by a legal technicality that prevents dad from leaving the Occupied Territory. While this narrative has a legitimate viability all its own, it nevertheless deviates widely from the picture's initial setup, taking viewers down a divergent path filled with an array of tangents unrelated to the principal storyline. It raises issues disparate from its assumed plot and introduces a plethora of characters who have nothing to do with the protagonist's kindreds. To its credit, the film presents a candid portrayal of the myriad difficulties of everyday life for those living under such tightly controlled circumstances, raising serious questions related to Israeli contentions regarding matters of democracy and equality, notions with undeniable merit. But, as all this unfolds, audiences can't help but wonder when the picture is going to get back to its original intent. Some of the characters' motivations in this story aren't always made as clear as they could be, either, especially for those who may be unfamiliar with the prevailing political and social conditions depicted in this film. And, ultimately, one might feel somewhat misled by all this, despite whatever noteworthy issues the film raises. "200 Meters" is by no means a bad film; it's just not the one that I (and probably others) expected to see when I began screening it. It's strange to think that something as simple as a title change might have worked wonders in making this work more impressive and satisfying.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A pragmatic drama film done in humoristic and sometimes naïve way.no need to get to know the political part of it in order to understand how difficult being occupied is.excellent acting by Ali Suliman that covers the rest of the cast. Fatherhood or parenthood has no boundaries.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

One of the best movies i have seen in my life

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

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Ameen Nayfeh

Director

Ali Suliman

Mustafa

Anna Unterberger

Anne

Lana Zreik

Salwa

Gassan Abbas

Abu Nidal

Nabil Al Raee

Nader

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200 Meters: Trailer 1

1:46

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Synopsis

Mustafa, a Palestinian construction worker, lives 200 meters away from his wife Salwa and their children in villages separated by the Israeli border wall. Though his family are all Israeli citizens, Mustafa refuses to obtain a permit to live with them. Unwilling to succumb to what he believes are unjust laws, he instead uses his work permit to visit daily. However, one day he gets a call every parent dreads: his son has been injured and brought to the hospital. Rushing to cross the Israeli checkpoint, Mustafa is denied on a technicality. Stopping at nothing to reach his child, a 200 meter distance becomes a 200 kilometer odyssey, as the increasingly desperate Mustafa attempts to smuggle himself to the other side of the wall. Featuring a magnetic central performance by Ali Suliman, Ameen Nayfeh's debut feature film expertly casts "one man's story as a reflection of a collective experience" (Variety) while maintaining the tender family drama at its core.

Director: Ameen Nayfeh
Producer: Francesco Melzi d'Eril
Screenwriter: Ameen Nayfeh
Distributor: Film Movement
Production Co: Film i Skåne, Odeh Films, MeMo Films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Arabic
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 18, 2022, Limited
Runtime: 1h 36m

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