Waiting for Rain

Description

After Salem, a wounded and disillusioned Israeli soldier flees her post, she turns to the most unlikely of sources: an exiled member of Hamas, whose location she has gleaned from a stolen, classified intelligence file. As she wrestles with the guilt of past decisions, what will her mark make of her? Zarar, a widower whose daughter is on the verge of death, is far too concerned for his daughter to look after a stranger, let alone an enemy infidel... but might Salem's coming unlock freedom from his own demons? Set in the liminal space between two hostile societies, 'Waiting for Rain' explores the pain we must all confront to find reconciliation and healing, for ourselves and those we love.

Biblical Connection

In 1 Kings 17, Elijah flees Israel and the persecution of a corrupt monarchy. He prophetically encounters a widow and her son, both of whom have been affected by the drought Elijah has declared on behalf of YHWH. Jesus references this story in the Gospel of Luke as an example of God's care for and attention to foreigners (in line with the wider promise that, through Abraham's descendants, all nations will be blessed). Further, God's mission in Jesus is described by NT writers as the reconciliation of all things (the removal of all dividing walls), including gender, ethnicity and personal & societal transgression. This film aims to be a realistic, modern retelling of the Elijah/widow story that simultaneously grasps these other themes, through two characters conditioned to hate each other. The film is set on the Israeli-Palestinian border as it is a place that as been subject to turmoil of 'biblical' proportions since at least 1948.