To his mom's side of the family, he's Abraham. To his dad's, he's Ibrahim. Why can't everyone just call him Abe? Abe Solomon-Odeh (Noah Schnapp, Stranger Things) is a 12-year-old Brooklynite whose self-possession in the kitchen and confidence navigating New York City's subway system would make most grown-ups stop in their tracks. The child of an Israeli-American mother and a Palestinian-American father, Abe spends most of his time concocting new recipes and maintaining his food blog, which is frequented by admirers and school bullies alike. Yet while Abe is a master at mixing ingredientsÑhis proudest accomplishment is having perfected the art of the ramen taco-he's at a loss when it comes to navigating the clash of cultures that forms his Jewish/Muslim family. His spiritual mother hopes to foster in her son a sense of reverence for his grandparents' cultural values, while Abe's father (Succession's Arian Moayed) is impatient with all religion, period. There isn't a family dinner without the grandparents butting heads, and when it comes to the food, nothing is simple: How are you supposed to blow out your birthday candles when your grandma bakes you a cake frosted with your Arabic name and your grandpa (Breaking Bad's Mark Margolis) expects you to dig into one in Hebrew? Since everyone is always arguing, no one notices when Abe slips out one night to a street fair to discover the culinary magic of a talented chef named Chico (Seu Jorge, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou), whose Afro-Brazilian roots are as rich as Abe's. As Chico takes Abe under his wing, will Abe be able to take the lessons he learns in the kitchen to turn his own family's confusion into fusion? - Zöe Pollak
film and feast
Sunday July 28 | following the Albany Twin screening
$30 members | $35 general public
$18 members | $20 general public | FEAST ONLY
Special event ticket required. Passes DO NOT apply.
Immediately following the film Abe (Albany Screening ONLY), join us for a private lunch reception featuring traditional and contemporary Middle Eastern flavors at Zaytoon Mediterranean Restaurant & Bar. Cash bar.
Fernando Grostein Andrade is afilmmaker originally from São Paulo, Brazil. Abe is his first narrative feature in English, starring Noah Schnapp (Stranger Things), Seu Jorge (City of God) and Mark Margolis (Breaking Bad) and shot by director of photography Blasco Giurato (Cinema Paradiso). Grandson of Jews that escaped Europe in the 1930's and Catholic immigrantsto Brazil, Fernando created the story, later collaborating with Palestinian American screenwriters Lameece Issaq & Jacob Kader.