Farah Nabulsi’s The Teacher wraps production

Principal photography has now wrapped on The Teacher, the new film from British/Palestinian filmmaker Farah Nabulsi.

THE TEACHER is Farah Nabulsi’s debut fiction feature, following her Oscar-nominated, BAFTA-winning short, THE PRESENT. Written and directed by Nabulsi, THE TEACHER is inspired by true events, set and shot in Palestine.

The film stars Imogen Poots (The Father, Vivarium) and Saleh Bakri (The Band’s Visit, Salvo, The Present), along with Stanley Townsend (The Current War, The Libertine), Paul Herzberg (My Week With Marilyn, The Honourable Woman) and Andrea Irvine (Line Of Duty, Red Rock). In addition, the film will showcase the talents of Palestinian newcomer Mohamed Abdel Rahman. The score will be brought to life by two-time Emmy-nominated composer Nainita Desai (The Reason I Jump, For Sama, American Murder).

Devastated by the loss of his teenage son, THE TEACHER follows a Palestinian school teacher Basem El-Saleh (Saleh Bakri), who struggles to reconcile his risky commitment to political resistance with the chance of a new relationship with volunteer-worker Lisa (Imogen Poots) and his emotional support for one of his students Adam (Mohamad Abdel Rahman).

Nabulsi comments “Independent cinema is exceptionally challenging, so it’s a dream to have the shoot wrapped. I’m so grateful to the whole team, cast and crew, working under the extra pressure of filmmaking in the tough and fragile environment of Occupied Palestine, and I cannot wait to present the film to audiences.”

Saleh Bakri added “I knew from the start being “the teacher”, Basem El-Saleh, was not going to be easy – it’s an extremely emotionally charged character. That said, when shooting in Palestine I’m always grateful we could finish what we started”.

THE TEACHER is produced by Cocoon Films, Native Liberty Productions and Philistine Films. CAA Media Finance will handle US sales and Wild Bunch International will be responsible for the rest of the world. The film was made with the help of development and production funding from the BFI (British Film Institute).

Wild Bunch co-founder Vincent Maraval said of Nabulsi’s feature debut “We were highly impressed by Nabulsi directorial debut short THE PRESENT, that won the BAFTA and was nominated for an Oscar in 2021. When we read the script for THE TEACHER it confirmed to us that Nabulsi will be a voice that matters in the world cinema stage for the future. Her way of tackling a very difficult issue and turn it into a mechanism of psychological suspense is the kind of cinematographic skill we admire at WILD BUNCH.”