37th Portland International Film Festival highlight continues with ‘A Gun In Each Hand’ and ‘Omar’

A Gun in Each Hand
Directed by Cesc Gay

A Gun In Each Hand is a witty and side-splitting film that explores contemporary Spain and the ever-changing gender roles that men and women deal with.

This brutally honest yet equally captivating movie tells a collection of entwining stories about 40-something-year-old men and the midlife crisis phase that most of them experience.

S. tries to win back his ex-wife, whom he divorced for another woman, who is now having a younger man’s child; G. doesn’t have a clue his wife is cheating on him; P. preys on his co-worker; J. is depressed; and E. lives with his mother and cat after losing everything.

A Gun In Each Hand is a brilliant battle-of-the-sexes comedy that is filled with gripe and sarcasm from beginning to end. This must-see film contains some of Spain’s best actors and won the Gaudi Awards for Best Film, Screenplay, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress.

Omar
Directed by Hany Abu-Assad

Omar is an intense action-packed Palestinian drama about treason in the Occupied Territories. Omar, the film’s protagonist, is a Palestinian baker who regularly climbs over the separation wall to visit his girlfriend Nadja. He has another side to him though. Omar is also a freedom fighter ready to risk his life to bring down the Israeli Military with his childhood friends Tarek and Amjad.

After the killing of an Israeli officer, Omar is the number one suspect and is arrested, tricked into confessing and forced to work as an informant for the corrupt government that attacks his people.

Will he betray his lifelong friends? Who can really be trusted in this desperate world?

This gripping, funny and heartbreaking film will open the audience’s eyes to a culture filled with moral dilemmas, an uncontrollable government and ultimately, a land whose people are trapped by unsolvable conflict.

For more information about the Portland International Film Festival, visit: http://festivals.nwfilm.org/piff37/