Ameer Abu Ria is about to enlist in the army. As opposed to the majority of eighteen-year-old boys in Israel, for whom army service is mandatory, Ameer is exempt from military service under the assumption that his enlistment may endanger Israel's security. That is because Ameer, an Israeli citizen, is a Muslim Arab. And yet, Ameer has decided to volunteer. He believes that his induction is the way to equality, he believes this is the way to belong to the state he lives in, the state he wants to love.
He is considered an enemy, a fifth column in the eyes of Israeli Jews, and a traitor of the worst kind in the eyes of Arab citizens; the kind who turns against his brothers.
All alone, Ameer sets out on a journey to civic and self-definition, while carefully navigating the thin line between Jewish and Arab societies. Ameer, an eternal optimist, wishes to be both a proud Arab and an enthusiastic Israeli, while his only enemy is reality. The film lays bare the different types of citizenship within the Israeli state.
“The film refrains from grand gestures or political slogans; it does not offer any simplistic solutions. Striking in its modesty and clarity, it allows the different voices to be heard, letting questions rise and moving the viewer to think further. Ameer Got His Gun is a sensitive and intelligent film portraying an individual as he navigates the surreal terrain of his life.”
“Never has a film summed up so neatly the dilemma of Israel's largest ethnic minority without resorting to didacticism or political dogmatism.”
SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS
Special Mention, Intimate Lens Ethnographic Film Festival, Italy, 2013
Nominee, Israeli Academy Awards, 2012
Grand Prize, Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels (FIPA), France, 2012
Special Mention, Jerusalem International Film Festival 2011
Best International Documentary, Chagrin Film Festival, USA, 2011
ETNOFilm festival, Croatia, 2014
London International, Documentary Film Festival, 2011
Intimate Lens Ethnographic Film Festival, Italy, 2013
Kratovo Ethnographic Film Festival, Italy, 2013
Middle Eastern Studies Association Film Festival, USA, 2013