Cinema Rex

SYNOPSIS

“Cinema Rex” is a film about the power of cinema to celebrate diversity. It is a film about a special place and a special friendship. A family picture that combines the nostalgia of “Cinema Paradiso” and the magic of “Mary Poppins” in a Middle Eastern setting.

Jerusalem, 1938, the British rule Palestine. The Rex movie theater opens in a grand gala. The unique location is already evident on opening night. The movie theater is the border of Jewish and Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem, with the British police station across the street. For a while the place helped put aside the bitter conflict and created a melting pot in which there was one common language – the language of cinema. Every night British, Arab and Jewish people came to the Rex to watch movies together.

At the center of the plot are two 10-year-olds: Moeiz, a Jewish boy and Ranin, an Arab girl. They get in and out of films, from Errol Flynn’s “Robin Hood” to the best of Egyptian cinema, and within a short time they form a close friendship based on a common language and love of the cinema. The Rex becomes the center of their lives and they believe they found their destiny. Meanwhile, outside the cinema reality goes on.

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