Ibrahim: A Fate to Define

The father of filmmaker Lina Al Abed was a member of the Abu Nidal Organization, a Palestinian militant group. His children don’t know exactly what his involvement was, and they were always told that if anyone asked about him they should say that he was away on business. In 1987, when Lina Al Abed was six years old, her father suddenly disappeared without a trace. Everyone assumes he was murdered, but the facts of the case aren’t known, and the family never discusses it.

Al Abed decides to make this film to break the silence and find answers, and at least in part to gain an understanding of the impact her father’s disappearance had on those he left behind. We follow her in encounters with her mother, her older brother and sister, as well as other family members. Their intimate and sometimes uncomfortable conversations are supported in voice-over by Al Abed’s reflections on what they say. The story turns out to be difficult to reconstruct, because each of her interlocutors relates differently to this part of their history.