Name: Ali Al-Arian

Recipient Year: 2019

Sponsor: ISF Film Grant

Name of Film: Sublime Madness

Description: Ali is the ambitious but disillusioned son of a Palestinian-American activist who is falsely accused and imprisoned during America’s War on Terror. A tense conversation with his father about the cost and meaning of his activism sparks Ali’s own journey into a movement for Palestinian rights—the cause that led to his father’s persecution. Ali’s exploration takes him from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro to occupied Palestine, and from the South African Island prison that held Nelson Mandela to the streets of New Orleans. He finds his place in the next generation of global activists who see the Palestinian cause as intertwined with their own movements. His encounters with activists, artists, and academics reveal an unexpected truth: Like his father before him, Ali is only at home in the madness of a struggle against insurmountable odds.