Samaritans, Mount Gerizim, Passover
About.
This is a cinematic retelling of the final years of Jesus: from the moment he begins to speak publicly until his final breath on the cross. Rooted in the sacred Gospels and illuminated by a wealth of historical and spiritual materials, the film immerses viewers in the profound power of his words and deeds, set against the vivid tapestry of Jewish life, ritual, and a land gripped by fervent political strife.
Directed by Hisham Bizri and based on a screenplay by the legendary Carl Theodor Dreyer, the film will be shot on location in the Middle East, in the landscapes and light where these events once unfolded. Spoken in English, its visual style will be both dramatic and luminous, drawing on the meditative intensity of Dreyer’s cinema. It is a story told through silence as much as speech, through gesture as much as miracle in a world where the sacred is not distant, but incarnate in flesh, dust, and time.
Synopsis.
In a land choked by occupation, a young man, on the precipice of his thirtieth year, finds his soul burdened by the chains that shackle his people. Born not to power, but to the dust of a humble home, he embarks on an extraordinary journey across a fractured nation. His voice, a whisper at first, swells into a chorus as he weaves parables of radical love, profound humility, and boundless compassion, extending a touch that mends the broken.
Word of his miraculous healings ignites a spark across the land, and a tide of humanity, yearning for hope, rises to follow him. Yet, in the shadows, fervent revolutionaries, their hearts ablaze with the fires of liberation, see in this enigmatic figure – Jesus – the prophesied leader destined to shatter the yoke of foreign rule and restore a sovereign nation.
But he refuses the blade, the banner of war. With twelve devoted disciples by his side, he walks a path of peace, unwavering in his mission. This defiance, however, casts a long shadow. Community elders, caught between their people and the iron fist of the occupiers, watch with growing dread. They fear his burgeoning popularity, a potential spark that could ignite a devastating upheaval, provoking the empire to unleash its full wrath, crushing their spirit and scattering them into exile.
For three years, his light shines, a beacon against the gathering storm. Then, the inevitable. He is seized by the occupiers, subjected to an unimaginable brutality, and ultimately, murdered. A tragic culmination no one truly desired, yet the desperate currents of fear, in their blinding fury, demanded a scapegoat, finding it in the man who dared to preach a different kingdom.