A.K.A Nadia (, Nadia - Shem Zmani) is a 2015 Israeli film, a debut directing work by Tova Ascher, a noted Israeli film editor, and starring Netta Shpigelman in the title role. It is a story of a Palestinian woman, Nadya, who has spent most of her adult life passing as a Jewish Israeli woman named Maya, her original identity unknown even to her husband and children.Interview: Tova Ascher, Screen Daily
The screenplay was written by the director in collaboration with her daughter, the philosophy professor Anat Ascher.
Plot summary Nadya falls in love with a PLO activist Nimmer and they marry secretly in London. Nimmer disappears, she is left without papers and support, and takes a job in a laundry. She manages to get a fake passport with the help of a laundry "customer #347", but the passport is for an Israeli Jew.Hannah Brown, "Movie review: Nadia’s dilemma. A Palestinian woman lives life as a Jew in Tova Ascher’s new film", The Jerusalem Post, February 10, 2017
Fast forward 15 years, Nadya, now Maya, married to a government official, has become a successful choreographer. When her company is to perform a dance in collaboration with Arabs, she meets Nimmer, who is a member of the coordinating committee...
Awards The film was nominated for several awards and won two. 2015: Israel Critics’ Forum Award for best feature film at the Jerusalem Film Festival. Jury motivation: "...for a profound and articulate discussion of issues of identity and belonging to a place and a family. The director offers an intricate portrait of a reality that is grounded in separation walls, checkpoints and segregation. The film examines whether one can create oneself anew within a tragic political context, by presenting a fascinating, complex and touching human story.""Issues of faith win over judges at Jerusalem Film Festival"The Times of Israel, July 21, 2015 2017: Micki Moore Award (to the Best Narrative Feature Film directed by a woman) at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival
See also Twist of Fate References
External links
טובה אשר - במאית מלידה, an interview with detailed discussion of the creation of the film and film itself