Lemon Tree

Salma Zidane is a widow living in a Palestinian village in the West Bank, where she tends the lemon grove her family planted generations ago and depends on it for her livelihood. When the Israeli defence minister moves into a house across the nearby boundary, his security detail decides the trees pose a risk and orders them cut down. Salma refuses to accept the decision, seeking help first from Palestinian officials and the Israeli military before a younger lawyer, Ziad Daud, agrees to take on her case. Her fight draws attention on both sides of the divide, including from the minister's wife, Mira, whose own life has grown isolated.

Directed by Eran Riklis, who wrote the screenplay with Suha Arraf, the film sits at the head of the three features listed for him, followed years later by Spider in the Web and Reading Lolita in Tehran. Hiam Abbass leads the cast as Salma, with Ali Suliman as Ziad, Doron Tavory as the minister and Rona Lipaz-Michael as his wife. It was produced across Germany, Israel, France and Palestine and took about 7 million dollars worldwide.

On IMDb, the film holds a critics' rating of 7 out of 10 from 68 reviews, matching the 7 out of 10 it earns on TMDB from 127 votes, so professional and general viewers landed in much the same place.