We Are Inside

When filmmaker Farah Kassem returns to Tripoli, Lebanon, after being away for more than ten years, she finds that while her widower father’s health is poor, his spirit is unbroken. Mustapha, a charming man in his 80s, is a celebrated poet dedicated to the classical Arabic form.

He is also a traditional father. He would love to see his daughter married, and even mentions this fact in the foreword of one of his poetry volumes. Farah, a full half-century younger, fiercely opposes him with a stubborness that rivals her father’s. But these are good-natured clashes, and sometimes they can’t contain their laughter.

Farah weaves poetic elements into her warmhearted film debut set mostly in her parental home: from the ambiguous title, We Are Inside, to the symbolism of the nesting pigeon in the window. All the while, Mustapha’s health is visibly deteriorating, and the director mirrors this process with the waves of protest in the background, rising to expel the ruling government. In her ultimate attempt to close the generation gap, Farah writes her own poem, which she unexpectedly recites at Mustapha’s club for elderly male poets.