IF BIRDS BELIEVED IN GOD

WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY

SAMER SAIFAN

2025 - Drama (20 Min)

A Palestinian man strives to be a photographer in New York City, but experiences surreal psychological visions as he struggles with generational trauma.

The story follows a day in the life of Ismail, a Palestinian photographer whose American upbringing was shaped by his grandfather’s displacement during the 1948 Palestine Nakba. When Ismail’s mother gifts him his grandfather’s keffiyeh—a traditional Palestinian scarf—it triggers an internal struggle between shame and pride in his cultural identity, all unfolding against the ominous backdrop of rising violence against Palestinians.