Palestine Film Festival Review: Make A Wish

“Make a Wish” (Itmanna) is about a Palestinian girl named Mariam who lives in Ramallah – a city in the West Bank. She wants to buy a birthday cake from Sanabee’s Bakery, but she does not have enough shekels (money).

For a day she looks for ways to earn ten more shekels so she can buy the cake. Who is the birthday cake for?

She walks by a black-and-white image of a key painted on a fence. One hand passes the key to another hand…one generation’s dream of the right to return to Palestine is passed on to the next generation.

On the street she sees a boy selling gum to people in their cars. In a grocery store she takes two packs of gum to earn the ten shekels needed for the cake. As she is about to walk out the store, the grocer asks her what is wrong.

On TV the news shows footage of the occupation’s violence. For a few seconds, the girl freezes. Mariam parades her sister in the streets as a blind girl in desperate need of surgery. When they reach the bakery, the owner locks the gates of his shop.

Will Mariam buy the cake? What is her wish?

Find out more about Palestinian dreams and realities at opening night of the 6th Annual Chicago Palestine Film Festival, beginning Saturday, April 14th-26th at the Gene Siskel Film Center.

Written directed and produced by Cherien Dabis
Director of Photography: Alison Kelly
Composer: Kathryn Bosie
Casting Director: Iman Aoun
Olive Pictures
Country: Palestine
Year: 2006
Duration: 12 minutes
In Arabic with English subtitles

-U.S. journalist and film critic Sonia Nettnin writes about social, political, economic, and cultural issues. Her focus is the Middle East.

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