A Sweet Story About New Beginnings

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MOVIE REVIEW
Peace by Chocolate
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Genre: Comedy, Drama
Year Released: 2022
Runtime: 1h 36m
Director(s): Jonathan Keijser
Writer(s): Jonathan Keijser, Abdul Malik
Cast: Hatem Ali, Mark Camacho, Ayham Abou Ammar, Yara Sabri, Kathryn Kirkpatrick, Mark Hachem, Najla Al-Khamri
Where To Watch: In select theaters starting April 29th and On Demand after that on June 10th

A true story brought to life through film for all to experience; having already won ten awards at film festivals, this touching film is getting a wider release and then coming to digital on-demand shortly after. This film challenges you with questions about the simplicity of what is right and wrong and what we perceive as our rights in our hometown. The world continues to change, and this beautiful story that primarily takes place in the Canadian Province of Nova Scotia makes us all look at some simple questions and hopefully reevaluate our thoughts on them.

Director Jonathan Keijser put the importance of the film into perspective ideally. “Jonathan believes that in order to inspire and challenge audience perceptions, films must be both emotionally poignant and humorous. To make meaningful impact, stories must go beyond a single point of view approach and allow viewers to draw their own informed conclusions. Instead of providing definitive answers to difficult questions, Jonathan aims to encourage increased awareness to help broaden perspectives as a way to spark curiosity and positive change.”

The film is both in English and Arabic with English subtitles; it’s a fantastic opportunity for anyone trying to get their feet wet with subtitles. I didn’t use to like subtitled fi. I felt like I spent more time reading than watching the movie. However, as I’ve watched more and more, it became second nature. Just my regular push to get everyone over the hurdle that took me so long. There are so many incredible films that aren’t in English; I can’t even imagine how many I would’ve missed out on if I had never leaped into them.

This film features such a fantastic cast, including the late Hatem Ali (primarily a director), who passed away in December of 2020. The film's cast is where a lot of the magic comes from; their interactions take a lot of the film's darker tones and can make it a more uplifting story. Don’t let that fool you, though; at its core, the film has a lot of important messages and isn’t afraid to tackle them head-on. I can’t think of any movie that better fits the dramedy (drama/comedy) label. I went from laughter to tears multiple times, primarily due to how well the story was told.

The film will have a relatively limited run; however, there are multiple showings at Marcus Theaters in the Chicagoland area. If you’re not able to catch it on the big screen, there’s a pretty short wait until it will be available on demand. I would challenge anyone interested in expanding their viewing habits to include more international films or even just thinking about it to check this film out.

Thanks to dominion3 Public Relations and Level 33 Entertainment.

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