Miral: Exclusive Interviews

Cinémoi interviews director Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Before Night Falls, Basquiat), actress Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire) and author Rula Jerbeal on their Palestinian, political saga Miral (2010).

American artist-turned film-maker Julian Schnabel follows up his critically acclaimed The Diving Bell and the Butterfly with his latest epic Miral, a film looking at the Palestinian struggle from 1948 until the mid-1990s adapted from Italian-Palestinian journalist Rula Jebreal’s novel. Based on the true story of Jebreal’s life in the Palestinian orphanage Dar Al-Tifel Institute in Jerusalem, we follow the young orphaned Miral (played the superb Freida Pinto) who is raised amid the conflicts of her land.

Schnabel and Jerbreal speak to Cinémoi about their desire to honour the people of the Middle East and the remarkable women whose lives have unfolded in the turbulent political climate along the borders of Israel and Palestine.

Indian actress Frieda Pinto, who shot to fame after her lead in Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning, global smash, Slumdog Millionaire, stars alongside acting greats Vanessa Redgrave and Willem Dafoe in the captivating Miral. Pinto talks to Cinémoi about the challenges she faced in learning a whole new country’s accent and history for her important portrayal of a young girl drawn into conflict, who finds herself torn between the fight for her people and her own future.