“To your people, your son is worth 1,000 of mine.” This striking line from Oscar-nominated director Farah Nabulsi’s feature debut The Teacher draws inspiration from the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange, in which one Israeli soldier was released in exchange for 1,027 prisoners, the majority of whom were Palestinians and Arab-Israelis.

Nabulsi’s tense drama follows a Palestinian schoolteacher named Basem (Saleh Bakri) who forms a bond with one of his students and must weigh a sacrifice to protect his future, while also forming a connection with a British social worker Lisa (Imogen Poots).

With the film now arriving in theaters from Watermelon Pictures, I spoke to Nabulsi about the origins of the story, shooting on-location in Palestine, the heightened emotional resonance since its TIFF 2023 premiere, inviting those not empathetic to the Palestinian struggle to view the film, and more.

The Film Stage: To start, what was the inspiration for focusing on the dynamic between a teacher and student to tell the story?

Farah Nabulsi: I mean, to be honest, that’s just based on the sort of imagination of a writer, in the sense of: okay, if someone doesn’t have a father figure present, what in their life could represent or be part of a teenager’s father-figure presence? I think many of us can look back and think about at least one teacher in our lives who made a difference, who felt like more than just a teacher. There’s also, in Palestine––specifically in some of these villages––let’s call it a family affair, in the sense that lots of family members live near each other. In this case, I didn’t want Basem to be a direct relation, like an uncle––although uncles [can be] this surrogate father figure for boys whose fathers are no longer around. So I thought, well, it’s the equivalent of that, when you have a neighbor who’s seen you grow up––it’s like an uncle. It was like a double whammy in the sense of: it’s a neighbor who knows them and loves them, has seen them grow up, but is also their educator. It was just coming up with a very relatable set-up for anyone when it comes to a teacher, to forge that surrogate bond with as the story evolves.

The cinematography of the film has a very strong sense of immediacy and urgency. Can you talk about your approach, and were there any films you looked to for inspiration?

It’s funny, because I think by the time I had my first conversation with my DoP [Gilles Porte], I had over 500 images on my phone, but not necessarily all from films. And even if it was from a film, it might have been a reference to the way they shot or the light, not the frame. I had collected so many references in many ways. It could be a picture I took, nothing to do with another film. I knew a lot of what I had wanted, to be honest, without having necessarily finalized even my locations. So I had three books of my notes, and it would be as detailed as: these are the shots I think I’m going to want as a shot list, but of course it will change depending on not just the conversations, but the locations. But also the intention behind the scenes––my notes, potentially, for the actors. So a lot of work had gone in before we had our first conversations. 

I would say there was only one reference film and I said very clearly, “Look, I’m not trying to imitate anybody else’s film. I’m writing a story and I want to execute this and direct this the way I just have in my mind.” But a film that I referenced in terms of––I think it’s a fantastic film; it’s a stunning film, actually––is Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies. So when I said as a reference film, if I’m going to give you one film––and I know the end result is not going to be like this film necessarily at all––but that’s a film where I say, “Yeah, it resonates on so many levels.”

And then we dug in, and the way we worked––I loved it. And he really appreciated the way I worked, and I appreciate the way he worked, which was: we created a book in the end based on… obviously I explained the vision I had, the kind of lighting, the tone, all of this we discussed, and I showed him all those references and everything. But we went scene-by-scene and location by location and created a [book] at least 300 pages, using the iPad, but then we printed it out. It’s full of images of me standing as the [actor]. So it’s me in a corner, and me in a house, showing where the close-up should be. It’s me running through the fields. These are the frames. We check it on the phone and then we pull it into the iPad. And then we place the people and discuss the maneuver of the camera. 

We went into detail, and Gilles is very detailed and he likes to be very organized, and I am very detailed and I like to be very organized. With a view that if we do all that, then when things are inevitably going to go wrong––as they do on every film set, especially in independent cinema––we’re good. We’re okay with that because the rest isn’t mayhem, as it were. So this book evolved, and then we printed it and it was handed to every head of department. So everybody can understand visually the intentions on every front––whether it’s from a practical, logistical point of view of where are we going to put the lights and so forth––but also from, “This is the whole scene. This is what you’re going to see, page-by-page, with images and everything.” And if there was a reference photo that specifically went [with it], we pull that in and then printed it so that everyone had their manual, as it were. So it was intense. We had a  really good, intense period together. And we value that time. 

It’s been a few years since the film initially premiered. What has it been like to see the events in Gaza unfold since your premiere, and do you think the film has found new resonance?

It’s a strange one, you know. So as you said: we premiered at TIFF 2023 in September, then a month later [was] October 7th, and then a genocide essentially unfolding in the following year-and-a-half. The film had a wonderful reception and reaction. Audiences worldwide, at film festivals where it has been programed and seen, people have loved it. We’ve had over 20 international awards, the majority of which were audience awards and best actor awards, and what more could you want? The audiences are who you really appreciate when they appreciate your work. So that’s told me it’s had a good reception, regardless of what’s been going on. But it’s definitely had a heightened emotional resonance, given the current reality. 

Of course, I wrote it now five years ago. I never could have imagined it would arrive at this crucial juncture in the discourse. And I have to be honest and say that I’m really, really grateful that I have this film at this moment in time to offer up at such a painful, painful, soul-shattering moment. Not just in so many ways for humanity––because I really see Palestine as the wound that the whole world is bleeding out of right now––but also just personally, being able to cope with this slaughter and destruction and loss, so I feel really privileged and grateful. 

We released in the U.K. and Ireland and released it across the Middle East and North Africa. I’m super-happy that the film is being released across the U.S. And the audiences that are seeing it, it’s resonating with. Interestingly enough, having written it so long ago, but people think, “Oh, did you write this because of the parallels that exist?” Now we know that, obviously, the reality in Palestine has been unfolding for decades and it is inspired by true stories that have been going on for a long time, including a specific story to do with a prisoner exchange that took place in 2011. People seeing it now, I think it just is resonating that much more, interestingly enough, because of this reality.

You shot this entirely in Palestine. I read a few interviews where there’s certain things you witnessed that reflected your script and made it even more resonant. As things unfolded on location, did you tweak anything in your script, and what was the experience shooting there like?

You know: no, I didn’t need to [change the script]. I’d done a lot of not just research, but I’ve spent a lot of time on the ground in militarily occupied and colonized Palestine. And I’ve spoken with so many people who have experienced firsthand much of the cruel, inhumane things that take place in the screenplay. So I felt it was very well-researched in that sense. I’m talking even from a practical point of view––reports, knowing how things do unfold, what does happen in these scenarios, or how people felt having experienced these scenarios themselves, and so forth. So I felt like I had a solid story of what I wanted to [accomplish] in the screenplay. It’s quite a dynamic story with lots of different things happening, so you don’t want to be derailed or go off-track, and then no one can make sense of something.

There’s a fine line between nuance and leaving people completely lost. And this is not a landscape that many people are familiar with. As much as we think it is, it isn’t, actually, when it comes to the details of some of these things. So it was more about balancing that, somehow, within the screenplay in the first place and then knowing that, okay, if you stick to this, then hopefully you won’t leave people completely confused. But on the other hand: it won’t be on-the-nose and spoon-fed. So I think I’d done the work on that to be secure enough to then move forward solidly with what we had. That doesn’t mean there’s not a little bit of improvisation on-set in certain moments and with certain lines. And that’s the beautiful prerogative of being the writer and the director and being in independent cinema: I didn’t need to go check. 

I did rewrite a key scene three days before shooting. But that was based on actor Saleh Bakri in just going over the scene a few days before and him saying, “Farah, I feel like the true essence of this scene is not what you want it to be, and it’s not quite there.” And you know when someone speaks such truth because you know it was in the back of your head and you’re struggling with so much that you’ve been dealing with––and even the writing process––that you really just don’t want to have to fix anything, so you put it away. But in your heart you know they are speaking truth to something you already know and you felt and you just had to hear someone who you trusted say that to you.

And the last thing you want to do is rewrite a key scene three days before shooting it, while you’re dealing with the rest of the shoot. But I did it, and it happened to be a weekend when my husband and my boys were coming to visit me and I was like, “Oh, it’s the last thing [I wanted to do].” But I stayed late one night and then I did it, and I’m so glad I did. So that actually was one scene where something didn’t completely change––the scene was the same in that sense––but I kind of rewrote it and dissected it and improved the dialogue and so forth. 

The struggles of shooting there: when you know you’re going to be shooting in such an environment, you know there’s going to be things you have to contend with other than in independent cinema and the headaches that come with all of that––like checkpoints and roadblocks––and then the idea that illegal Israeli settlers started to burn the olive groves in the village of Burin. And that’s where the teacher is from. It’s in the screenplay, and it’s a village that’s near to where we were shooting. But it was too dangerous to shoot in that village, which is why we didn’t.

But when these settlers were burning olive groves and we have a scene like that in the film, I think moments like that put a lot of pressure on me mentally and emotionally––not only because it’s really painful to witness injustice take place around you in real time, but also doing justice to the injustice in a fictional narrative piece of cinema. And it’s not a period drama. It’s not something that happened a long time ago that we are sort of reenacting. No, it’s happening in real time around you, working with people in your cast and crew whose real-life, lived experience is much of that that is unfolding around you and taking place in the film. So it’s a bit convoluted, but you get my meaning: it’s just a lot of mental and emotional pressure.

And actually, at the Q&A last night, I remembered something I haven’t mentioned much, but: during the preparation and shoot period of a few months, it was about three months total, around six teenage boys were killed in the Nablus area alone, which is where we were shooting––either by the military or by settlers––and so it really, really hit home something, a key element of the film and screenplay. Which, again, I know happens, but when it’s happening in real time, it adds a layer of emotional complexity that I just hadn’t really thought about enough and didn’t realize it would have an effect on morale. And that pressure of saying, “Hold on, keep everyone safe, keep everyone upbeat, when you yourself are struggling to be upbeat because of that reality of getting to the finish line, leading a team. And yet the reality is really dark. 

Especially in America, a lot of the mainstream media is really not portraying what it’s like to live in Palestine. For someone who is perhaps not empathetic with the struggle of the Palestinian people, what would you say to an audience member that’s on the fence to invite them to watch the film?

Well, I would first say that, for me, I’m very just interested in the human dynamics of things. I’m not saying the socio-political isn’t part of the film and integral and certainly present, but I want them to see it as a human story. For me, it’s avoiding putting branding on people, but really examining the real-life conditions and circumstances that might drive people to make certain choices and take certain actions. And I feel like, if they would watch the film, it might not just give them maybe another perspective, but certainly can challenge even some of their position or understanding of the reality.

An intention with the film was to take audiences on this emotional journey into the lives of these characters and leave them sort of contemplating those choices and decisions. Now, I would say let me offer you an additional, deeper human context so that hopefully you would understand. Like I said: that wasn’t necessarily the intention. But now, in this environment, I would want to offer you that context because it seems to really be missing from the discourse. But it is so important. The outcome of people who are on the fence, the proverbial fence, I hope it touches their hearts and their minds and they can consider that kind of perspective.

The Teacher is now in theaters.